Naruto: Shinobi-In-Training
by LordOwl
Summary: Follow Naruto as he strives to turn his dreams into reality in a gritty world where children are shinobi and the world is still cycling through peace and strife.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to the Shinobi Corps

A/N: As of 12/17, I changed the formatting of my chapters to replace the hyphen dividers into 0 dividers since FFN kept deleting them and I did not realize this until now. This will be the only time you will see an A/N here. Enjoy the story.

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Chapter 1: Welcome to the Shinobi Corps:

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First thing I heard this morning was the buzzing of the alarm. With a jolt, I realized that the ramen chef was not actually saying 'beep beep beep,' but was actually being overrode by the sound of my alarm urging me to wake up.

The dream faded as I clung desperately to just one more bite of fictional ramen. It was no wonder that I didn't welcome becoming awake to a ramen-less reality in my bed. Groggily, I reached searchingly for the alarm. Ever since I shut the alarm and went right back to sleep that one day before class, I have made sure to place the alarm in a different hard-to-reach location every time before I went to sleep. Frustrated at not finding the off button in reaching distance, I grudgingly got out of bed, shivering as I felt the early morning chill, as I walked over to what blearily looked like the appropriate shape of the alarm.

Shutting it off, I went back to bed to enjoy its lingering warmth as it reentered by body. Involuntarily, the comforter went back up to my chin as I breathed deeply through my nose, savoring the contrast of cold air and my protective cocoon of heat.

It was when my thoughts were gradually transcending back into the realm of sleep and ramen that I jolted with a start. Today was supposed to be a new subject day! Iruka-sensei will kill me for being late! Leaping out of bed as if burned, I glared at it with wide-awake eyes. The bed looked so innocuously innocent, like a kicked dog, that I couldn't stay mad at it- vile tempter that it was; I couldn't blame that it did its job well. Bowing to it in respect for this match between man and sleep, I hurried to pick up my favorite orange jacket and blue sandals as I raced out the door to class. I hope I'm learning a new jutsu today!

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I rushed into class with negative minutes to spare. Not seeing Iruka-sensei anywhere, I breathed a sigh of relief as I started walking towards my seat-only to feel a harsh tug at my collar as I was lifted up. Yelping, I flailed my legs and arms as I heard a dreaded voice from an oni. Truly, this oni's voice was terrible to hear. It echoed through the suddenly quiet classroom and it was all I could hear as this deceptively calm baritone resounded through my being. Warily creaking my head to the origin, I managed to catch the last bits of what must be its kill speech.

"-and another thing, how is it that you live so close to the school, yet continuously be late to class Naruto? Are you even listening to me? Oi, Naruto!"

Shaking my head out of my stupor, I grinned in relief at his scarred tanned face, "Oh, Iruka-sensei! I thought there was an oni behind me. I heard it calling to grind my bones and add them to his oatmeal," rubbing the back of my neck, I weakly continued, "good thing you caught me before I was eaten, heh heh heh."

A throbbing vein threatened to burst out of his forehead as he snarled out, "You idiot!" And once again, I was disoriented as an unseen strike swept across the back of my head.

"Ow! Sensei! That hurt!" Wincing back a tear of pain, I grimaced at him.

Iruka-sensei shook his head as he continued his lecture, "You fool! How are you going to graduate the class this time if you don't even attend all the sessions?!" Woah, how did his head suddenly get bigger?

"If you paid more attention to genjutsu class, you'd know why my head is suddenly bigger. Fool!" Whoops, did I say that out loud?

Coughing into his hand, Iruka-sensei directed me to my seat as he closed the door, "Now that everyone is here," he directed a glare at poor rueful little me, to the chuckles of my classmates, "we can continue with the lecture. Today, we will be learning the different types of elemental chakra available to shinobi and why this matters during the course of your training. This will matter as many of you will be graduating next month once you take the exams."

Aw, right. Since I repeated class 2 times already, I already know this stuff. Why did I even get up this morning? Sighing, I rested my head on my hand as my eyes glazed over with practiced ease.

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The day was ending as I walked out of class. "Psst, Naruto! Come with me for a bit."

Whipping my head in surprise, I barely hid a wince as it turned out to be Iruka-sensei. What could he want now?

Cautiously walking over to his shadowed figure, I asked, "Hey Iruka-sensei! How's it going? Sorry I was late today, I was caught up with investigating the disappearance of my shoes when I found the time was already 8AM!"

Bemusedly shaking his head, Iruka-sensei smiled and said, "Well, that's all well and good, but I hope that'll teach you a lesson in organization. You're supposed to graduate this year Naruto, I don't want you to fail."

"Really? Do you really mean that Iruka-sensei?" All the other teachers have wanted me to fail before he came in.

"No. Actually," the sky warped around him as his shadowy figure suddenly enlarged with a spatula suddenly appearing in his hand and a chef hat popped atop his head. His eyes glowed red as he bared sharp white teeth at me, "I actually…want you to fail so you can't be there when I steal all the ramen in the world! Mwahahahahah!"

Tearing in fear at this menacing figure, I couldn't help but shout out that he would never take all the ramen so long as I lived, "Steal all the ramen? NEVERRRR!"

And then I woke up with a start.

Ah! That was a scary nightmare. I opened my eyes as I sat up, grasping at my sheets to make sure I wasn't dreaming again. Man, I hope I wasn't dreaming again. That nightmare was so convincing. I should have known that Iruka wouldn't selfishly hoard all the ramen though. Blearily, I looked at the alarm clock to see it was 15 minutes till the team meeting with Sasuke and Sakura-chan. This would be the first meeting after our survival test. I wonder how it will turn out. Quickly getting dressed, I made my way to the door.

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I jogged towards the meeting place on the bridge to see that Sasuke and Sakura-chan had already arrived, though Kakashi-sensei was nowhere in sight. Well, it shouldn't be long before sensei would arrive. In the meantime, I tried to make small-talk with Sakura-chan, though it looked like she was too focused on Sasuke to care. Bastard gets all the luck. Well, except for having all his family murdered I suppose. Deflating a bit at the lack of attention and smarting from Sakura-chan's punch to the face, I leaned against the bridge in silence as I wondered about the dream I had. How did it feel so realistic?

Lost in my thoughts, I was surprised when Kakashi-sensei finally teleported to our location in a flurry of leaves. Leaping to my feet while weeping some leaves off my clothes, I scowled as I pointed accusingly at him, "You're late!" I was joined with Sakura-chan. I knew we would have something in common!

Nonchalantly, he looked up from his porn (hey, even I could recognize the warning on the back that was usually followed with porn), "Oh, you guys are here already? Hope you didn't wait long." Oh, that much-too innocent smile of his, where his eye crinkled, you're not fooling anyone sensei!

"Well, since all of you have gathered on time, I'll reward you guys with something that you'll treasure your entire career as shinobi."

Attentions piqued, we focused on our sensei. What could it be? Would it be that teleportation technique of his? I could go anywhere with that thing!

With relish, Kakashi slowly enunciated, "We…will be…," our heads were leaning forwards in anticipation, "doing tree climbing!" With face faults all around, the only one still upright was a much-too satisfied sensei.

Sakura-chan protested, "But sensei! How will climbing trees help us?"

"Well, you see. That is why you have to look underneath the underneath Sakura. Follow me and see." With reluctance and disbelief written on our faces, we trudged after him. What could possibly be important about climbing trees? How can anyone read beyond that simple fact? Looking around, it looked like both Sakura-chan and Sasuke were similarly confused.

Once we arrived at the same training spot where we performed our survival training, sensei turned towards us and slowly back-walked towards the tree…and then up the tree! How did he do that?!

Smugly crinkling his eye at us he said, "well, now do you think climbing trees is a waste of time? In the shinobi world, you will all have to look beyond simple words to capture the underlying message. Failure isn't too bad in this case, you just had to suffer suspense; failure later on, however," sensei's voice turned serious, "can and will cost you your life and your team's lives." With a sudden discomfort, we nodded dumbly, gulping as we did.

As he continued to walk backwards up the tree, he continued, "What you will need to do is focus chakra at your feet and will it to stick to the tree. From there on, you can walk up the tree. You should be able to better control your chakra because of this exercise as your feet are the hardest part to circulate chakra to, well, besides your elbows, knees, head, stomach, and under such parts of your body."

"Sensei, how will improving chakra control help us become shinobi? Why can't we learn a kick-ass jutsu or something?" Sasuke seemed to agree with me as he nodded at my question.

"Well, I suppose I could teach you a super awesome jutsu…but then you wouldn't be able to use it since you can't control your chakra to form it. Bit of a problem isn't it?" deadpanned Kakashi sensei.

Well, when you put it that way…

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So, we continued to do the exercise, falling onto our backs or managing to catch ourselves from falling. We were able to make some headway by afternoon. Sakura-chan actually made it all the way to the top of her tree and back down, but got tired fast. Sasuke was slightly higher than me, but I was able to make it to halfway up before losing my grip.

"Stop for now, you can practice on your own time. Good work Sakura, it looks like the Uchiha clan and future-Hokage aren't that great now huh? You two better catch up if you want to achieve your dreams. Although, I'd work on building up your reserves by training your body, Sakura. There are minimum chakra requirements to perform certain jutsu. I'd also eat more if you want to keep your energy."

Annoyed at the jibe, both Sasuke and I glared at sensei and snarled at his responding smile.

"Well, I'll make sure you guys get up to speed so none of you die on the battlefield. We'll be doing sparring now so you can all learn to move faster," with a seal, Kakashi-sensei created 3 shadow clones, "spar with these 3 and make sure to move at your full capabilities or you'll regret it."

"We're sparring? Why aren't we doing missions?" I asked. I thought ninja were all about doing bad-ass missions and protecting people?

A dark chuckle made us shiver, "Huh huh huh, well, if I sent you three out on missions now…you would all die," suddenly changing his voice to a happier tone, "that's why I'm making sure you get all the training you can fit in those brains before going!"

Mutely, we followed his direction to take our separate sparring areas as he watched us from atop his tree.

Facing across the kage bushin, I examined him for openings. He was just nonchalantly holding his hands in his pockets while amusedly looking at me. Growling at treating me lightly, I charged at him. Let's see him take me lightly now!

With a cry, I launched myself at him with a straight punch, only to be caught by his right hand. Expecting him to catch it, I rocket my knee forward to help my attack. Blocking the knee with his other arm, I twisted around my arm to get a firmer hold on his imprisoning vice in hopes of kicking him in the face. Instead, he let go of my hand and I yelped as I started to fall backwards.

Twisting around to trip him with a leg swipe, sensei leapt over the kick as well as dodge my follow up kick to the chest. As I corrected my position back to a ready stance, I heard his calm voice.

"First mistake, going for a straight attack; you're a shinobi, not a brawler. If you wanted to attack me with a straight attack, you should have a planned follow-up because, in all likelihood, you will probably be blocked or countered. It was good of you to try blocking my vision with your body for your knee to hit me, but at that moment, your enemy already controls your movement with holding your hand. This is even worse when you used your arm as leverage to launch yourself up."

Restarting my offense, I ran at him only to leap to the side for a side kick and followed up with a roundhouse kick only to have him dodge away from both attacks.

"Second and third mistakes, not gauging your reach. I'm sure you know better than I that you are very, very short," sensei's eye crinkled in humor, "your legs won't reach very far, so it's easy to dodge your attacks and follow up with an attack to your exposed area…which is all your body at that moment as you are also in the air. If you're in the air, you can't move very well to dodge attacks."

Growling at his ease, I leapt forward to his position and ran the remaining gap to take out his legs, concealing my hands as I formed kage bushin in a roll towards his legs. Leaping back, Kakashi made a tsking sound until he found my clones grasping both his arms to hold him down. I got him now! Crowing in anticipated victory, I leapt to strike him down with a punch chambered behind me.

And then…Kakashi spun around, uprooting both my clones and backhanded me with my own clone!

With a disappointed cry, I bowled backwards into the grass, rolling as I tried to stop my momentum. Breathing deeply, I leapt back to my feet to glare at my smiling teacher. He's still smiling! Wider, if anything!

"Well, that was a good try, but let's not forget one of the primary rules of shinobi combat- use everything around you for victory. Your clones not only make a shackle, but also a gauntlet."

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Sparring continued on as Kakashi managed to dodge, block, duck, and blow past any attack I made. By the time I saw the sun begin to set, I was gasping for breath and lying down on the grass in exhaustion. Looking around, I saw that Sakura-chan and a sweaty Sasuke were staring at me.

"Baka, how do you have so much energy?" wheezed Sakura. Grinning at her, I rejoiced in something she noticed. Hah! Beat that Sasuke! I bet you didn't even last as long!

At the sound of the bushin dispelling, Kakashi-sensei started speaking, "Well, this was an insightful training session. I think you all will be needing much improvement before being sent out to missions. Mmhmm, in fact, these next two weeks should be dedicated to remedial training!"

Growling at the name 'remedial,' Sasuke leapt to his feet in protest, "Maybe these two weaklings need remedial training, but I'm better. I need to get stronger fast!" Why that…bastard! How dare he think I'm weak? Or Sakura-chan?! Leaping to my feet, I chambered a retort just as I heard a disappointed sigh from sensei.

"You, Sasuke, are just as in bad need of training as these two. In fact, you're even further behind if you think you can exist without the help of others. At least these two know they're not perfect or entitled to anything."

Before Teme could respond, Kakashi-sensei continued, "We'll stop here for now. Get well rested guys, because tomorrow will be even more strenuous as I will be attacking. Tomorrow, we'll also go over other key factors of being a shinobi." Before any of us could ask more, sensei disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

I'll get him for sure tomorrow! I'll see to it, and then I'll keep working until I become Hokage! Turning around, I opened my mouth to ask Sakura-chan out only to deflate as I saw her already staring at Sasuke with a lovey dovey expression on her face. Sasuke just snorted and turned around to head for home. Seeing her depressed, I hurried over to her. A hime like her shouldn't be depressed? I bet I can make her happier than Sasuke ever could!

"Um, Sakura-chan! That was a pretty brutal training session wasn't it? How about we go grab some ramen or something?" Smiling at her, she turned around, surprised at my voice, "Naruto, I don't feel that way about okay?! I'm saving myself for Sasuke and you can just butt out!"

Disappointed, I watch her leave in a huff as the air feels colder around me. With a sigh, I make my way back to Ichiraku. Some ramen should cheer me up.

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A/N: Hello everyone! This is my new fanfic in years. I hope you all like it and review. If there's any suggestions or errors you saw, please tell me. I'm going for a more realistic version of Naruto. In my author notes, I will be explaining certain parts of the chapter that I feel needs explanation, though you can always ask me over pm/review about any part that you found confusing or would like elaborated.

Kakashi: I know the characterization is a bit different for people like Kakashi; that's because I feel that someone of his skill and background would probably take being leader of a group of children more seriously considering he's lost comrades before. It doesn't make sense to me in the anime how he goes from passive-lazy for training one moment to ultra-protective later on in the Wave arc then back to lazy. He knows these kids will encounter hardship, so he'll be relying on hardcore training to get them up to par. This is the person who was both a prodigy and an ANBU captain before, so his perspective of training will naturally be to a higher standard to others, not leaving things up in the air in hopes that everything will work out fine. Of course, there will be conflict with his perceptions later on.

The dream: Don't worry, I didn't set up the dream to troll you around. I hate that too. I intend to use that experience as an underlying motivation for one of the mechanics of this story.

Until next chapter,

LordOwl


	2. Chapter 2: Pursuing the Dream

Chapter 2: Pursuing the Dream

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I woke up to see I was not in my apartment. The squeaky lumpy bed that I was used to sleeping was no longer there, and instead, I was sitting on a large stiff bed big enough for three. Yawning, I padded over to where I thought the restroom was, wondering where I was now. In the distance, I could hear pleasantly feminine humming as the woman sung to a soft tune by herself. I entered the dark room and fumbled for the lights and quickly winced my eyes shut as the sudden burst of light invaded my eyes. How long was I asleep?

I walked over to the sink and washed my face. Feeling slightly more energetic than before, I looked up to wipe my face and hurriedly backed up into a soft warm body. What? Why was there a blonde nan standing in front of the sink? Just as sudden as the image, appeared, I felt the hug of two soft arms wrapping around me, drawing me into a warm embrace. Confused, I tried to turn around, but was met with resistance and the soft scent of Sakura blossoms gently touching my senses. I could feel myself stiffening as I felt the unknown person draw me closer and into…two comfortingly soft lumps where my chest would be. Now why would there….be…breasts?!

Jerkingly, I put more force in my turn and met the loveliest emerald green eyes that I would recognize on any woman. This was…Sakura-chan…but different. She was at the same height as me now. And she wasn't looking at me with apathy or annoyance? Did I henge into Sasuke-teme? Giggling was heard as I tuned back to the moment.

"Oh Naruto, what's got your froggy boxers in a knot now? Did you want me back in bed so early that you would forsake the ramen breakfast I made for you?"

Ramen breakfast? Involuntarily sniffing the air out of curiosity, I sensed it! The delicious food of the gods! Surely, that makes this real right? How else could I be smelling ramen? Shaking myself awake, I grinned at Sakura-chan as I tried to make sense of the situation. I'll just play along until I can figure out what's going on.

Pouting, she took my hand- Sakura-chan is touching me! Woohoo! In a delighted daze, we wandered out of the restroom and back to the bed. Wait, did that mean Sakura-chan and I sleep together?! YES! By all that is good, I have been blessed!

With more force than I thought she had, Sakura sunk into the bed, pulling me forward as well. Before I realized it, the comforter was back on, with the very pleasant and curvy figure of Sakura-chan curling against me. This is the best moment of my life! Warm feelings bubbled up in me as I relaxed into Sakura-chan's presence, her breathing shallow and her body resting comfortingly on me. I feel…so happy. I could feel a wetness to my eyes as the girl of my dreams laid next to me.

She whispered a good night to me as I followed her into sleep. I nodded sleepily against her soft pink hair as I enjoyed having her with me. The mood was suddenly broken by the cold shrill of an alarm. I jerked awake and stumbled through the comforter to reach at it so I could return to Sakura, but all I got was a tangling that made me fall forwards. I could feel reality warping as I kept falling and falling.

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I felt the cold air before I felt the cold floor slam against my shoulder, but both were equally disturbing to my sleep. Startled, I rose back up and furiously looked around. I was…back in my room. Where was Sakura-chan? I heard a thump as my curled arm relaxed and looked down to see my pillow. I was hugging my pillow in my sleep? So that was all…a dream? Disappointment crashed into me as I tried to recognize the room in front of my eyes. The alarm took second place as I tried to jumpstart my thoughts. All of it felt so real. The bed. The bathroom. The…arms. Sakura-chan felt so real! I could feel my face crunching as I yelled out my frustration. I want it to be real! Darn it!

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I hurried to the bridge where my team was supposed to meet. In my morning haze, I kept thinking about the dream. It had felt so real, and I could still feel Sakura-chan's arms around me. Damn it, I felt so happy.

Dully, I said hi to my teammates as I waited for Kakashi-sensei with them. Staring across the bridge, I watched Sakura-chan once again try to win Sasuke's love. I wonder how Sakura's arms would feel resting against me, her body pressing up against me, a warm cocoon protecting us from the world around us. Nothing would be able to harm us, I could feel it.

I sighed as I tried to remember the gradual disappearing memory of Sakura's arms. I don't want these memories to disappear, even if they were from a dream. I continued to try until I saw Kakashi-sensei teleport to our location, scattering leaves in his wake.

"Oho, you three are on time again!" mused sensei, "I'll have to make sure you get enough training to reward you for your eagerness."

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The day progressed as Kakashi-sensei would have us practice tree-climbing and then create kage-bushin to spar with us. At the end of the day, when we were all sore, but satisfied with the training, sensei disappeared in that teleportation technique of his as he commended our work ethic. Relaxing into a standing position, I saw Sakura-chan ask Sasuke out before being rejected yet again. Seeing her depressed, I scurried over to ask her out. I know I would cherish her if she asked me out!

As I walked closer to her, I stopped right before her as I thought of the dream again. I know I can make that dream come true if I try hard enough! As I opened my mouth to ask her, I was cut off by her voice, "No Naruto, I am not going out with you, okay? Just stop asking me and leave me alone!" My breath died as I saw her run away from me. Damn, how can I make her love me? It would be so simple if I knew what I did to lead to that dream.

As I wondered about this, I walked towards my apartment. I took a detour and passed by Ichiraku ramen for a quick bite to eat. As I saw the stand, I also saw my team leader digging into a hearty bowl of beef stew with noodles. Turning around to look at me, he smiled and beckoned me to come sit next to him. Seeing as I was going to eat here anyways, I nodded energetically with a smile. At least someone wants to eat with me! Settling into my seat, I waved to a smiling Teuchi and Ayame as I called out my order and turned to face my teacher.

"So, what's got you bothered Naruto-kun? You seemed distracted during training and I could sense you from here when you were walking."

Surprised that someone noticed, I answered, "Well, I had a dream sensei." At his inquiring hand motion to continue, I thought of how to explain as I munched on my noodles.

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"Hmm," Kakashi-sensei hummed in thought, "so you're trying to see if there is a way to access these dreams on purpose?"

I nodded enthusiastically. Over the course of a couple bowls, I explained to sensei the dreams that I had the last two nights. I wanted to be able to go into the dream with Sakura-chan again. Even if it was only a little bit, it felt so lonely to end it so suddenly. And hey, it might even give me a clue on getting her in real life! And I'm sure I could use Iruka-sensei in my dream to show everyone why ramen should finally be made Konoha's signature dish! Who wouldn't realize how great ramen is when someone finally tries to take it away from you?

I tuned back to what sensei was saying.

"…do it by genjutsu then," Wait, what? I think sensei saw my confusion because he sighed and continued with a rueful smile, "I said, Naruto-kun, that you should pay more attention."

Urk, caught. Grinning sheepishly, I apologized, "Sorry sensei, I was just thinking what I could do if I could go into those dreams and show them to people, you know?"

Nodding, he continued, "Well, it is an interesting motivation you have," his eye drooped a bit, "It's even understandable, considering what you face with people here…"

Focusing his eye on me, Kakashi-sensei hesitantly said, "You know, you can always talk to me if you need help, okay? You're not alone- you have a team now. In fact, it would be irresponsible, even, to not let me know if anything is bothering you," sensei's eye warmed up, "Okay?"

For a moment, I couldn't speak. He was offering his help? But-but of course! Of course, he is a teacher, why wouldn't he help a student if he was any good? Ye-Yeah! Flustered, I tried to switch the topic back to my question, "Y-Yes sensei!" I shouted, excitement barely contained.

Coughing into my cup of water, I continued, "An-Anyways, what were you saying about genjutsu sensei?"

Allowing my change of subject, his expression switched back to his normal amused face, "Yes, yes. So I was saying that you can use genjutsu to trick yourself into those dreams, though it might be harder if you're trying to get something you're not sure about. The basics of genjutsu is to completely control what your subject is seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, smelling, and such. For that reason, you need to know exactly what you are trying to project. It might be trickier to fool yourself since you wouldn't know what you would want to feel in the illusion. I'm guessing you want to continue this fantasy with your dream girl," at this, sensei formed a somber smile, "I have to warn you now though. And I want you to listen very carefully."

Gulping at the change in atmosphere, I focused on his words.

"I want you to tell me about all your progress in this area of genjutsu. Everything. No matter how embarrassing, trust me, as a jounin appointed by Hokage-sama to watch over you, that you will tell me. This is a very dangerous area of study. Especially to the user because he can lose touch with reality and may need someone to drag him back for his safety. I know better than to forbid you, but I want to at least make sure you do it safely. I have heard of many shinobi that were so desperate to see their lost loved ones that they ended up succeeding, but wasting away in their fantasies while their real loved ones wept helplessly. This is the power of will, Naruto, when used recklessly. You may succeed in this endeavor…but at what cost?"

I could feel goosebumps tingle across my skin as I tried to process his words. It was dangerous? But…I just want to be happy with Sakura-chan. Still, if jiji picked Kakashi-sensei to watch me, he surely can't be untrustworthy right? Gathering my faith, I nodded back at him to show that I would be honest with him.

Relieved, sensei relaxed his shoulders and continued, "Good. Always remember you can always come to me for help. For teaching basic genjutsu, however, I think a friend of mine would be more use than me. I am better at testing genjutsu on than learning it from. I'll ask my friend for you to see if he has the time."

A different teacher? I thought my jounin leader was supposed to teach me everything?

Sensei must have seen my confusion because he rubbed my head a second later, "Jounin naturally are good at a lot of different disciplines- subjects. When we find something that someone else would be better at teaching our students, however, we direct them to our friends and expect the same if they have the same situation. I myself am asked for help in honing taijutsu and ninjutsu execution and crafting."

Ooo, does this mean that sensei knows a lot of awesome jutsus? Maybe he can teach me some! "Sensei, if that's the case, why don't you teach us more jutsu?"

"Well, I told you in the tree climbing exercise, you need better chakra control before it's worthwhile learning ninjutsu. It doesn't quite make much sense to only be able to throw one jutsu at the enemy and then open yourself up him when you're dead tired."

"But I'm never tired," I protested, "I can keep making kage bushin for a while, so doesn't that mean I have a lot?"

To my embarrassment, sensei just patted my head, "Ah, well you are a bit of a special case you know? But I can't let you go too far ahead without your teammates. You all have to reach improvement in your basics before you can go further. Otherwise, it'll just take longer since you'll have to eventually go back to rebuild those weaknesses. Besides, you've still got other areas that your teammates are waiting for you to catch up in, such as chakra control and taijutsu."

"But, it might help me learn a bit if I got a sneak peak at what awaits me right?" I want to learn a new jutsu darn it!

"Hmm…you're right Naruto-kun," sensei's voice suddenly picked up a tone I didn't like, "How about I show you the final version of the sennin goroshi?"

Sennin gor-URK! That ridiculous ass-poke? No way am I going through that, especially if that wasn't even the final form!

Shaking my head nervously, I quickly responded, "Neh, that's alright sensei. How about you just show me to that friend of yours and call it even huh?"

Looking back at me in amusement, sensei let me sweat a bit, before continuing, "Alright. Let's pick up and I'll introduce you to my friend before your bed time."

Alright! No ass-poke today!

As I followed him away from Ichiraku's, I curiously asked, "Hey Kakashi-sensei, who's your friend anyways?"

"Hm? My friend? He's part of the Sarutobi clan- Sarutobi Asuma."

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A/N: So that's the end of chapter 2. I'm sure you're wondering why I picked Asuma as the genjutsu trainer. Well, I figure that out of the three starting sensei, Asuma is probably better apt at teaching considering his how he was able to bring out the talents of his students in different ways in the anime. He is able to approach his pupils differently while training them; the only problem is that there's little cohesive will in his team to perform. As Naruto has a great amount of determination, I'm sure he would succeed well under Asuma's tutelage.

I also think that having Kurenai teach may not fit Naruto; Kurenai's a genius in genjutsu, and as such, may neglect the basics that came so easily and naturally for her when Naruto would probably face problems initially. As Kurenai is not very experienced as a jounin-instructor, this would further cause some delays in development such that I feel Kurenai is better suited for intermediate-advanced genjutsu training when the student already has a foundation.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next. I will be starting this slow as I want Naruto's training developed over a period of time like an actual shinobi, rather than just tossed to the grinder without explanation for any divergences from canon.

I just noticed the chapters didn't have the breaks I included in the document. Please tell me if there's anything I can do to make things clearer.

Thanks,

LordOwl


	3. Chapter 3: Welcome to the Dream

Chapter 3: Welcome to the Dream:

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Kakashi-sensei walked me to an open field a distance away from where we normally practiced. I could see how I never saw this place as its dense surrounding trees hid its location from where I was sure I would be seeing again tomorrow morning. The sun was almost done setting and the shadows cast by the trees made this place seem more…unwelcoming- creepy, almost.

Breaking my gaze, I saw a man laying on the grass with a cigarette's smoke drifted lazily past his lips.

"Ara? Kakashi? What are you doing here?"

Pausing to briefly wave at the figure slowly sitting up, sensei started speaking, "Yo, Asuma. I've got a student who wants to learn beginning genjutsu. Think you could help me out here?"

I felt before seeing his gaze on me- it was intrusive, almost as if this Asuma was appraising me from the inside out. Did he know about the Fox? Was he like the villagers?

After a long time, the man continued, rising to his full height. He was as tall as Kakashi would be if his hair wasn't raised up. Breathing out smoke, he answered, "Oh? And why does he want to learn genjutsu?"

Feeling a pressure gently push me forward from behind, I gave a quick glance at Kakashi-sensei before walking forward at his approving look. Closing my eyes as I took a deep breath, I gathered my thoughts and thought of all that had happened in my dreams and what I could do if I could bring the dreams to life.

When I opened them, I saw Asuma fix his gaze on my eyes. His eyes weren't hostile- that's good. I slowly began explaining my dreams, my goal, and brushed upon the loneliness I felt when I woke up to find no one at my side this morning.

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After I finished, I took some time to gather myself as I awaited his response. His gaze was still on me, but felt as if it was looking through me. For a long time, we just stood there, only a few meters between us, and I smelled his smoke as he lit another cigarette after his first one finished.

Finally, as I was about to speak, he started, "I see. I can see why Kakashi would want to show you to me. I imagine he also warned you about the risks of losing yourself in the illusion?"

At my nod, he continued, "And yet you still want to learn this?"

Another nod from me

"I see. Very well then, it's as good as any reason to get into the field. But first though, why are you speaking to empty air?"

Confused, I opened my mouth to speak out before feeling the sharp sensation of a kunai against my throat. Hearing and feeling the hushed words of Asuma against my ear made me shiver in fear.

"This is what happens when you get too focused on the illusion, Naruto-chan. You let yourself get trapped and will not only let yourself die, but your teammates and village die as well. Remember to keep your eyes on reality, no matter what you do with illusions," the kunai's brace tightened against my throat, "Got it?"

Carefully nodding, lest I get beheaded, I was relieved when I felt the blade's presence lessen, only to gasp again as I felt it prick against me from the other side of my neck. 'What is going on?' I thought furiously. 'Did he shift his grip? What did I do wrong?'

"Tsk tsk, you fail again, Naruto-chan. You must keep your awareness on full alert if you want to survive your pursuit. Now when do you think I placed the first and second genjustu on you?"

I felt the blade release itself from my presence, and I quickly darted away from him to keep him in my full view. 'When did he place a genjutsu on me?' I wondered, 'His kunai switch was also a genjutsu?' Realization dawned on me before I shouted out, "Am I still in a genjutsu?"

Looking at me, Asuma's lips morphed themselves into a satisfied smirk, "Oh? And what if you were? I could have carried you all the way across the village and dunk you in the females hot spring right now, and you still wouldn't realize it. How would you release yourself?"

Feeling a gulp worm its way through my throat, I tried to remember how to break an illusion. What did Iruka-sensei say about genjutsu? Oh yeah, try to break the flow of chakra.

I congratulate before my thoughts came to a grinding halt.

….

Processing revelation.

….

Trying to apply solution to problem

….

How do you break the flow of chakra?

Wailing in despair, I tried to come up with an example that Iruka-sensei showed us. Oh why didn't I listen better?

Hearing a sigh, I looked up to see Asuma walking over to me. He raised his hand, and I almost winced in anticipation what could come. Is he going to bop me on the head? Maybe this is a genjutsu too!

I was surprised then, to feel his very physical hand pat me on the head before ruffling my hair. Naturally cringing at the sensation, I grimaced at him under my current mess of hair. He smiled down at me and then turned his head slightly to call out to Kakashi-sensei, "Oi, Kakashi! You've got an interesting student here. I think I'll keep him."

He was…accepting me as a student? Yay! I'm learning genjutsu now! I'm going to make Sakura-chan love me and get the whole world to follow the Way of Ramen!

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Asuma-sensei sat me down on a smooth rock seat as he sat across from me. He took out a piece of gum to chew as he contemplated what to teach me. Absentmindedly offering me a piece, I happily took one as I examined my genjutsu teacher. The most distinctive was his beard that connected to his sideburns. He wore the same vest that Kakashi seemed to wear, and had his headband as a bandanna around his head, keeping his otherwise messy hair raised away from his vision. I broke my thoughts as I saw him open his mouth to begin the lesson.

"Well, first of all, I'm gonna have to teach you to break genjutsu or you'll keep getting lost in them before you even progress," at this, he pointedly talked about how I was lost in breaking free from genjutsu. I think he realized that I did not pay enough attention to Iruka-sensei when he discussed genjutsu.

Sheepishly, I told him that I remembered to break the flow of chakra, but not how to go about doing it.

Relieved, Asuma-sensei spoke, "Well, at least you know the concept. Yes, it is important to break the flow of chakra that is causing you to experience the illusion. This will typically mean causing the source to cease its control over your chakra system as that is the typical path in casting a genjutsu."

Seeing me about to ask about the different ways of casting genjutsu, he waved my question down, "I'll explain the other paths later, but we need you able to take down illusions before learning to cast or you'll be lost in it yourself."

"Essentially, you can disrupt the chakra flow through different ways. They range from physical input to disrupt the mental input, such as cutting yourself with a kunai, though that stops working against more advanced genjutsu or taking back control of your chakra and shaking off the interference from the enemy."

Seeing me wince in anticipation of future pain, he continued, "We'll focus more on the chakra resistance method as that's the most sure-fire way of taking down illusions."

From then on, Asuma-sensei lectured me on how one could take control of their chakra back from the caster. One could pulse their chakra irregularly to prevent the caster from keeping their hold on your system, or make a big enough pulse that would blast the caster's control out of your system. Another more advanced way was taking control of the caster's own chakra and then using it to trace the location of the caster and cast your own genjutsu to counter them, turning the trap back onto them. It was difficult understanding, but Asuma-sensei was a patient teacher.

By the end of the lesson, I was able to get enough control of my chakra to cancel illusions similar to the previous ones that Asuma had cast on me. Mentally drained, I mumbled my thanks as I walked off the field and back to the apartment. It was a very long day.

Changing into my sleeping clothes, I collapsed into my familiar bed and relished the soft comfort compared to sitting on a rock the entire evening. I was on the road to bringing out these illusions to reality though, so it was definitely worth it. With a smile on my face, I tried to direct my brain to the same dream that I had last night. A dream where someone loved me.

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A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this. Naruto is starting to learn genjutsu and you see his motivation. Poor guy just wants some love and people to understand him. I think this is what any hated orphan wants at such a young age.

Again, please review and tell me what you think of my writing. Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

LordOwl


	4. Chapter 4: Reality Hurts

Chapter 4: Reality Hurts

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The next morning, I woke up unable to go back to yesterday's dream with Sakura-chan. Instead, I had been battling the Kyuubi in the middle of the village. I can see why the village feared it so; the beast shrugged off anything I threw at it and none of the jutsu that I had read about in my ninja story books could go through its thick fur. Thankfully, I woke up just before the thing was about to eat me, but the shaking still hadn't completely stopped.

My bed was a pool of sweat as I groggily tried to ground myself back in reality.

"Great," I groaned, "more laundry for this weekend."

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I ran through the rooftops of Konaha to find my team waiting at the bridge with sensei nowhere in sight. 'Kakashi-sensei now,' I thought surprised. I have more than one sensei now. As the events of last night came back to me, I found myself shaking in excitement at learning more about how to make my dreams real. I wonder what he will teach me first?

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Kakashi-sensei finally arrived half an hour later. This time, there was no sound from Sakura-chan or I as we stared at him. Scratching his head sheepily, he muttered an excuse about sheep running to Snow Country to cool down before gesturing at us to follow him.

He brought us to the same practice field as the day before yesterday and made sure we stretched this time. My body was still sore from the first day of training and yesterday. After stretching, he had us run laps around the field while dodging around raised pits of dirt that would suddenly pop up. I idly wondered what jutsu he was using to do this, but was more concerned with the push-up penalty that was slowly, but definitely, going up as I stepped on more and more dirt piles.

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My muscles strained with fatigue. They screamed at me to stop, and I would. I totally would- if sensei was warming up his index and middle finger so warningly at me. I was in no mood to see the 'completed' version of his super ass-poke.

200. I had had to do TWO-HUNDRED push-ups. By the time I was at 120, I couldn't get back up. Even Kakashi-sensei approaching me wasn't enough to get my muscles to obey my will. Just as I was thinking I was a goner, Kakashi-sensei, bless any listening spirit, allowed me to finish the rest with three sit-ups per push-up missed. It was still hard, and my upper body felt like an immovable boulder, but I was finally able to make the penalty. Unfortunately for Sakura-chan, she still had 30 more sit-ups to do- and she looked like she was on Death's doorstep.

"Ara, Sakura, you really need to work on your stamina," Kakashi mused over a broken Sakura-chan, unfazed by her furious glare. Smiling, Kakashi continued, "well, I suppose I can let you make up for it tomorrow…but I'll have to double it. Everyone, rest for a few minutes. We'll begin tree climbing again and then sparring to finish up our training for today."

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Tree climbing passed similar to yesterday. I was gradually making progress, but Sasuke-teme was making higher heights, while Sakura-chan was already working on going up and down without tiring.

Determined, I kept at the exercise until I heard Kakashi-sensei tell us to break for lunch.

Turning around, I was just as surprised as my teammates to see sensei standing next to a blanket filled with food. There were tonkatsu sandwiches, salad, fruit, and sushi gloriously laid out in the open. It made me suddenly wary as I wondered if this was a trick.

Raising his hands peacefully at the met suspicion, Kakashi-sensei smiled at us and explained, "Well, I know we're a team and all, but we really don't talk much. So I checked up on my fellow jonin teachers and found that a common way to bond is by eating together. So, let's eat!"

Warily, we joined him and sat on the blanket. We observed with skepticism as sensei reached for a sandwich before our skepticism turned into wonder as we were about to see what was under his mask.

Almost in slow motion, the sandwich neared where his mouth would be. "Itadakimasu," murmured sensei as he closed his eyes in anticipated delight.

Suddenly, there was a puff of smoke that had us all jump to the side to see what was the threat. As the smoke disappeared, a dog appeared. What in the world? Where did he come from?

Raising his paw in a lazy greeting the dog opened his mouth. "Yo," he casually spoke. He talks?!

Confused, we looked to sensei for direction only to see him happily chewing a medium-sized bulge in his cheek. Ah! We missed it!

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After a lunch mixed in with whispered questions about what the dog was here for, we finished eating and looked at sensei for questions- a very seemingly oblivious sensei that was radiating a smug aura. Honestly, there's nothing easy with this guy.

"Well," began sensei while gesturing to the dog, "I'm sure you're wondering why I brought Pakkun here for." Again, the dog greeted us with a woofed "Yo."

"Sensei…what is he?" asked Sakura-chan

"Well, he is a pug. I've had him since I was little," answered sensei.

As expected, he totally answered our question, but didn't help us in the slightest. I felt my mouth twitch in an exasperated grimace.

Not receiving any response, sensei sighed, "You guys are no fun." At this, we glared at him as a team. We really needed to do something to get him back for all our suffering.

"Well, Pakkun is part of the dog clan that I have a summoning contract with. He is one of many other dogs that I ask to help me in tracking down targets-"the now-named Pakkun interjected with an indignant huff- "and one of the smartest, cutest creatures that I have yet to meet," continued sensei in a humored deadpan voice. Pakkun puffed out his chest in pride. Well, at least this dog has personality. Kakashi-sensei is just annoying.

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Kakashi-sensei later asked Pakkun to stand at the sidelines while we sparred with sensei's clones again. We had more questions about the summoning contract, but sensei said he would answer them later.

I stood across sensei, thinking over what I could throw at him this time. Meanwhile, he was standing there, giving me an expectant gaze. He had stopped bringing out his book since yesterday when I told him I wanted him serious about our training. Don't know what would have happened if Sakura-chan and Sasuke didn't back me up, but I'm glad they did. I suppose Teme ain't that bad.

Gah. Focus!

Thinking up a opening feint with a follow-up combo, I dashed at sensei and gathered my chakra for assisting Kage Bushin. They would over me as I opened with a feint on sensei.

Just as quickly as they pounced on sensei, the clones disappeared in bursts of smoke. Faster than I had planned, but still good enough to cover what would look like my attack. I ran through the smoke to punch at where I previously saw him. Not meeting resistance, I struggled to find him. He wasn't there anymore!

Leaping to the side, I felt solid resistance against my left shoulder as I ran against a body. It was sensei! Realizing too late, it was all I could do to pull up my arms to prepare myself as I felt sensei pull me up by the legs and fling me into his knee.

I met his knee at my chest, and by all spirits, it hurt! Even with my arms between my chest and the knee, my breath was knocked out and I could only weakly kick at him with my free leg as I took hasty breaths to recover.

I felt my position shift upwards and was reoriented with him locking my arms and torso against his chest. "If you do not control your self- and all your bodily functions like breathing, your opponent will control them for you," sensei scolded into my ears.

As he released me, I leapt away from him to regain a normal breathing pattern while sensei waited patiently. Okay. Control yourself, Naruto. You cannot let your body be controlled by the other. You learned this already. Don't let him control your arms and legs; don't let him control your breathing- my pace! Don't let him control your pace! I realized he wanted me to prevent my pattern from being controlled by the enemy.

With a grim smile, I planned out my next steps.

I ran at him at a dead sprint and breathed heavily for effect. If I can make it look like I have one pattern, but actually use a totally different pace, I can affect what he thinks my pace will be!

I leapt at him once again and waited for his reaction. He dodged to the left and left me in mid-air as his arm rose to snatch me in mid-action again. Turning into a roll, I flung my arms out in a spinning pattern to smack his hand away. I landed in a crouch on the ground and sprung back to him with renewed vigor. He was expecting a tired me, but I've got him now!

No good!

His raised arm twisted with his body to smack me backwards and his other arm gripped the collar of my jumpsuit. I managed a yelp at the sudden change in momentum before my head was pulled and slammed into his palm. Sensei then pushed me back, causing me to uncontrollably roll backwards.

Darn it!

I could have sworn I had him. Rising back to my feet, I met the amused eye of sensei as he started commenting again.

"It's good to see you learned to fake your pace, Naruto-kun. But you forget that I have already seen your capabilities. Of course it would be suspicious for someone as hardy as you to be so tired after just a quick exchange. So, a feint would be a logical course of action since it's not like I did anything suitably damaging to make you breathe so heavily when you ran at me."

Seeing that I was listening, he continued, "You also have the habit of going for acrobatic air stunts that leave you vulnerable. It's hard to change directions in the air until you land. I know you have bushin to help protect you, but that's still a vulnerability you'll have to fix or change your style."

"Well," said sensei as he settled into a stance, "I might as well test your defense before the day is over."

As he charged, the only thing running through my mind as I tried to defend was how much of a gap there was between sensei and I. I'll fix this gap! I must to become Hokage!

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It was towards the end of the afternoon that I finally made a breakthrough. I would be learning how to turn dreams into reality soon with Asuma-sensei, true. But...could I turn reality into dreams?

Thinking on this, I tried to link what I was doing now with how I would be fighting the Kyuubi in my dreams. I was a lot faster in the dream; could I become faster now? If chakra is the key to turning dreams into reality, is chakra also able to turn reality into dreams?!

Breaking away from sensei, I waited until I was a fair bit of distance from him before breathing slower with deeper breathes. I could feel sensei waiting for me to prepare my attack, so I took more time to gather myself.

Reality is dreams with chakra. Chakra lets dreams become reality. Chakra will let reality become dreams.

I felt chakra spread through my body as I repeated these words to myself, forcing my mind to understand and use this idea. Once I felt enough chakra had gathered into me, I put more chakra into my legs like I did in the tree-climbing exercise only to allow the chakra to overload once again and explosively assist my sprint to sensei.

Fast.

I was very fast for just that one moment of time. I almost ran into sensei with how fast I was going and how much attention I was putting into concentrating chakra into my legs. I barely had time to raise my arms and dodge around sensei to his right side where his eye was covered. With a deep release of breath, I kicked upwards at him and stepped on his intercepting forearm to elbow his neck from both sides with my elbows.

Attack. Block. Attack. Duck. Keep close distance. Attack. Go around him. Attack again.

Over and over, I kept trying to land a hit on sensei as I pushed more and more chakra into my body. I could feel myself heating up as I began to lose some of my speed. It was slow, at first, but I started to see that I was slowing back to my regular speed the longer I kept up my attack.

With one last attempt, I lunged at him from under his guard for a knockout punch to end the spar, but was caught under my chin by his knee.

Everything faded into blackness

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A/N: Hope you guys like it. And please review.


	5. Chapter 5: Illusive Proficiency

Chapter 5: Illusive Proficiency

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I woke up in a daze. "Where am I?" I wondered aloud.

"Yo, Naruto," called out someone who sounded like Kakashi-sensei. I opened my eyes from where I was lying down to see that the sun had not changed much since I last saw it. How much time had passed?

I quickly sat up and then yelped in pain as my neck felt like someone pinched it under a cart. Cursing out at the pain, I asked my teammates sitting around me, "Ugh, what happened?"

Shaking his head, Sasuke surprisingly answered, "You got knocked out Dobe." A pause followed.

"Good job."

Even though I wasn't looking in his direction, I could already see the smirk forming on his smug face. Too bad I was too distracted by the slowly increasing pain to respond to him. Or maybe it was a good thing.

"Well, it's good you're awake Naruto. I was worried I knocked you out too hard there. I actually expected you to dodge it, but I guess your enhanced speed was more brute-force than finesse," commented sensei.

Perking at the word 'enhanced,' I looked curiously at sensei, hoping he would clarify.

Sensei shrugged and continued while raising his hands to form some handsigns, "Well, it looked like you were forcing chakra into your muscles to move faster. A lot of shinobi do that. Now hold still," A green cloud-like energy was forming around Kakashi-sensei's hands now.

As he moved the hands towards my neck, I asked, "Why wouldn't I hold sti-" I stifled a yell as the pain in my neck suddenly started ramping up. Gods, this is painful!

Trying not to move, I asked through gnashing teeth, "S-Sensei? What the hell?"

Realizing I was referring to my neck, or maybe just acting less senseless, he answered, "Well, I'm using-" Oh god, this was so painful! Why, why why was this so painful!?- "you'll never walk again."

"What?" I yelled out as my wide eyes almost bulged out of my head, "I'm never going to walk again?"

Sighing-a little too calmly, I think-at what I assume was me, sensei spoke again, "I said that, 'it's not like you'll never walk again,' and it's thanks to the medical chakra I'm pumping into your neck right now."

"Phew," I breathed a sigh of relief. The pain was slowly fading away and I was able to focus back to the present.

"What's different between regular chakra and medical chakra, sensei?" asked Sakura-chan.

Lifting his hands away from the back of my neck, sensei seemed to be in thought before he began explaining, "Hmm, well, I suppose the difference is that medical chakra is…" sensei drew out the end of his sentence as Sakura-chan leaned in expectedly. Oh, I've seen this before…

"…used for medicine!" Kakashi thumped his fist into his other hand, as if finding the secret to life- or sadistic delight in baiting his student- maybe both are related in this case…

Groaning, Sakura continued staring deadpan at sensei in hopes that he would continue. Poor Sakura-chan. I tried to help by prodding sensei, "So why can't normal chakra do it? Why is it that green chakra instead?"

While sensei seemed to ponder his words, Sakura shot me a grateful look- I puffed in pride- before quickly realizing who she was looking at, and continue her staring at sensei. Aw, at least it was a brief acknowledgment. I'll get her yet- definitely.

"Well," I refocused my attention to sensei, "I'm glad that you are finally asking questions. Don't be afraid of asking me those."

I can ask him questions? My first instructors never let me ask any. Well, if sensei insists…

At seeing my hesitant nod, he continued, "Now, chakra itself is really just raw energy. When people tell you to use chakra for techniques, they really mean molded chakra. This goes into different kinds of chakra, like fire-nature chakra, transformation-nature chakra, illusion-nature chakra, etcetera."

It seemed like sensei managed to catch Sasuke's attention as well. All three of us seemed to be fixed on his words. Who knew this guy with the funky hair knew this much?

"After all, it's kinda obvious that you need fire-natured chakra for fire jutsu right? 'No, I thought I was supposed to use water chakra," mocked sensei. We had a good chuckle at that.

"Essentially, part of the reason why we have chakra control exercises is to practice specific natures of chakra usage and how to use them from different parts of the body. No one area of the body uses chakra the same way just as no person uses chakra the completely same way either. Thankfully though, enough information has been gathered on chakra usage that it is enough to teach most people."

Nodding his head, sensei continued explaining chakra theory to us. Strangely enough, this wasn't that boring at all. I guess not hearing this twice before helps a lot.

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It was during the middle of sensei's explanation of the different kinds of chakra that I realized I was supposed to be going to Asuma-sensei's training area to continue learning genjutsu.

"Ah! Sorry sensei, but I have to go to Asuma-sensei now!" I barely yelled this out as I started running towards the area, in hopes that I wasn't late. I barely heard a muted question from Sakura-chan, but didn't pay enough attention to hear what she asked. Dreams are calling!

The part about using chakra to make my muscles stronger was cool too, though.

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I made it to the forested clearing with ragged breathing to see Asuma-sensei sitting on the same rock that we had sat on earlier. Nervously, I approached him, hoping I was on time.

"Uh, Asuma-sensei? Sorry to make you wait. Kakashi-sensei was explaining the different natures of chakra and I lost track of time after I got hit in the back of the neck and blacked out. Is that alright? You weren't waiting for me, right? Neh, Asuma-sensei?" Hurriedly, I rushed through my questions after no response came. Why was he so still?

Suddenly, I heard a whistling sound and saw Asuma-sensei's body pierced through with a giant double-edged sword! Slumping forward, his body slid forward along the blade until it was resting as if he was asleep. Blood flowed down the blade onto the wood bench and-wait. Wood? Wasn't it a stone bench?

A genjutsu!

Clapping my hands together in the ram sign, I gathered as much chakra as I could to my torso, where I imagined my chakra to be coming from, and called out with all my determination, "Kai!"

As if in response, the air around me shook and Asuma sensei was no longer on the now stone bench and I noticed him standing off to the side, clapping in approval.

"Bravo, Naruto-kun. You were able to distinguish the fake one from reality," He smiled at me. Blushing, I ducked my head while rubbing the back of my neck.

"But it took too long for you to realize this. It took something as obvious as a sword impaling me in a secure area and a sudden replacement of the environment for you to realize you were in an illusion. We need to work on your detection capabilities if we want to proceed into casting genjutsu." Well, there goes that good mood.

"Right, today, we will be working on your detection. I'm going to test your vision first since that's the most common genjutsu target."

I raised my hand to stop him before asking him a question, "Sensei? Why's that the most used target?"

"Well, the eye is a very complex system connected to the brain. As such, even a slight change in signals sent to the brain can represent something entirely different to the target. Because of this, it is very easy to tap into the ocular region and mess with the target from there."

Nodding my head in understanding, I let him continue. I'm so glad I have Kakashi-sensei and Asuma-sensei willing to explain stuff to me!

"Now," continued Asuma-sensei, "I'll be testing you with different illusions. I want you to tell me which parts of the illusion were not real. I'll be flickering through them, so keep up; I won't be warning you when I'll be starting and ending a new one," weaving his hands through seals too fast for my eyes to keep up, he commanded me, "Begin."

And the world changed.

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By the end of practice, my eyes were dead tired. I could barely move them and they felt like stones against my head. Asuma-sensei had casted many different illusions and it was hard getting all of the changes correct. After every illusion, he would correct me with which changes went unnoticed by me. How was I supposed to check the ground and the sky all at once? I can only focus my eyes on so many spots before I miss something.

Thankfully, sensei said something similar about most people. I guess that's why genjutsu is so dangerous. How come there aren't more people doing this?

"Well," explained sensei, "It's because it's too troublesome in the middle of a fight. You need not only the mental discipline to make these complex chakra manipulations to affect the target, sometimes even in the middle of combat, but the gain isn't really seen until you reach master-level proficiency when opponents are less able to sense your illusions and stop it."

Well, I guess I'll have to get a master's proficiency then. Then I'll be able to bring my dreams to reality!

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A/N: Well, this is the chapter concluding the last. Naruto and his team will be learning how to use chakra better to enhance their combat capabilities. I think that even though gennin are expected to have low chakra, they should still be able to maintain a burst of speed with it, at least enough to get close to someone who wasn't expecting it. It's a good way to widen the skill gap between the ninja and their opponents when missions start ramping up in difficulty to the degree that the ninja are expecting non-ninja/minor ninja combatants. I would also think Kakashi would capitalize on the learning opportunity presented by Naruto.

Well, Naruto is getting into the swing of learning genjutsu and is undaunted even though he realizes he has a long way to go. I'm currently writing the sixth chapter right now, so expect it soon. Until then.

P.S. Until 12/17- I was unaware my dividers were being deleted due to FFN formatting and have just now replaced them with 0's. Sorry if the text looked gurbled before.

LordOwl


	6. Chapter 6: Illusionary Memory

Chapter 6: Illusionary Memory

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It's been 6 weeks since I first started training under Kakashi-sensei and Asuma-sensei. I have come a long way since then. I have started casting in the B-class genjutsu and have been able to win more matches than I've lost with Sasuke. My team was even able to finish a C-class mission that turned into S-class. It was so cool, I took down a nuke-nin and saw Kakashi-sensei use a genjutsu to make an enemy stab another enemy in the eye.

There weren't a lack of hiccups though in the past. My graduating class found out about the Kyuubi, but, strangely enough, no one held it against me. If anything, they praised me and Sasuke-teme acknowledged me as his rival even! Ah, what a good life I'm living.

I closed my door and walked out, skipping over the traps I laid over the entryway- can't have any intruders into my place, right? I've got all my research materials there for genjutsu. I ran through town, receiving grudging smiles from the townspeople. Things had certainly changed with them when they found out that even the local shinobi clans and my own graduating class supported me through the Kyuubi revelation. I was slowly earning people's respect; and I relished every bit of it.

Stopping at the bridge, I slowly sneaked up on my new girlfriend, Sakura-chan. She would always fake being mad at me, but I think she enjoyed it too. Leaping at her, I encircled her with my arms and brought her around to kiss me.

Then I saw the disturbingly large fish-lips that then swallowed me whole.

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Gasping, I woke up and tried jumping out. 'I will not be eaten alive!' I furiously thought. Getting tangled in what must have been its digestive system, I tried to burst through only to trip and fall over onto…cold floor?

Wiggling myself out of what felt much too rough to be flesh, I looked around. Huh, I'm in my room. I don't think a person's digestive system would look my room…so it was a dream?

Well, that doesn't excuse the 6 weeks of training that I…did? I paused in my thoughts as I looked at my calendar hanging askew on the wall across from me. It had only been 2 weeks since I started training with my team? Huh. Who knew time felt so convincing in my dreams.

Groggy, I picked myself up and placed my sheets back on the bed. Man, it was such a good dream too. What part of that was true?

I tried sorting through what I remembered in the dreams and what I know had already happened in real life. Well, the Kyuubi hasn't been revealed to anyone yet, good. I don't have Sakura-chan as my girlfriend, yet. The villagers probably still hate me, jerks. My team also hadn't taken a mission above a D-class yet. I'm also not learning any genjutsu casting yet either- a far cry from my dream.

Well, this sucks. The dream was a really nice one. But it wasn't real life.

My shoulders sagged a bit at the depressing comparison, before firming back up. I just have to try harder! C'mon Naruto! You can do this! You're the future Hokage!

Yeah!

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Pumped up, I headed to the training grounds after a quick breakfast. No ramen, sadly.

The others were already there waiting for Kakashi-sensei. I went up to them and greeted them as always. No response from Sasuke except for a grunt and a bored nod from Sakura-chan as I walked up. Well, at least we're not at each other's throats. We managed to find unity a few days ago in our hate against D-rank missions. Sensei had started us off on missions after a week of training, giving us the rationale that they would build team unity. I suppose he's right, but I'd rather not pick up people's trash and call it a "mission."

'Rationale,' I mentally snorted. Asuma-sensei was making me read more book sin the hopes that they would prepare my mind for the rigors- darn, I did it again- of genjutsu training. I guess I was getting smarter, but Sakura-chan wasn't too impressed. Though she seemed to have stopped questioning me on the stuff I claimed to have learned, so maybe that was improvement? At least I'm not treated as the idiot anymore.

Still, there was much more to learn if Asuma-sensei's list of books was anything to go by. At least he gave me a pass to the shinobi book depository so I wouldn't get glared at by the civilians in the public library. I remember I was really excited at getting access to the library. I thought I would be seeing a bunch of kick-ass jutsus to use at my leisure. Heck, I even dragged Sasuke-teme and the rest of the team to see it. Later, it turned out their protest was proven correct as, despite it being a collection of books for shinobi, most of what I would think would be the 'good stuff' were locked away until I reached chunin. How will I reach that level if they don't teach me the stuff?!

Fortunately, Asuma-sensei's recommended books were at least available at the library for me to rent. The shinobi librarian didn't seem to care too much about me borrowing them either- a pleasantly big difference from the civilian librarian at the public library.

Kakashi-sensei appeared and showed us the mission that we would be taking to warm up for the day. It wasn't as bad previous missions. This one involved herding cows through some of the nearby grasslands.

We hurried to the village exit, excited that we were finally taking missions beyond the village area.

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Today's mission ended just after noon. The man was oddly nice to me as well as the rest of my team. It turned out that not every civilian dislikes me, or he just never heard of what I had in my stomach. Collecting our mission pay from a grateful farmer, we made it to our training area with time to spare for lunch.

"Alright little ones," said sensei as he clapped his hands together to get our attention, "We will be going through sparring on water to build up your chakra, chakra control, and teamwork. First one who takes my bells will be awarded a chance to pet Pakkun's paws."

Turning around, expecting us to follow, sensei walked a bit before realizing we were staring skeptically at him. "What? They're very soft paws," sensei explained.

After a silence, he also added, "And anyone who fails to participate will get a genjutsu that will make them want to wear purple dresses through Konoha- and nothing else." Ah, that was more like sensei- extortion.

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We made it to the middle of the lake where we made our preparations to take down sensei. While he opened up his dirty book to read, I huddled in with my teammates to decide on a strategy.

"Ok, I'll hit him with a fireball jutsu and Sakura can throw shuriken and kunai at him to cut off his escape route back to me while Naruto can overwhelm him with clones. Try not to get in my way," commanded Sasuke-teme.

Or, you know, listening to the bastard dictate our roles; that's good too, I suppose.

Sighing, I followed since I could always improvise in the middle of the fight. So long as we don't interfere with each other, it shouldn't go that bad.

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It did go that bad.

I'm not sure when everything went wrong, but I'm willing to bet one of the signs should have been Sakura becoming petrified when sensei used Sasuke as a human shield to her shuriken- causing her to go into shock as she almost killed her beloved teammate. That didn't come until after failed attempts to grab his bells as a team though, so I guess we did get some good practice into…whatever this was.

My clones didn't really make too much of a difference except to have sensei distracted whenever Sasuke swooped in for a capture. I tried mixing myself in, but his taijutsu was much better than Sasuke's and mine combined. We did, however, pull off a cool combination that had me substituting with a clone and then catching sensei in a pincer move with Teme. It didn't work, but he was surprised I could substitute with one of my clones. Well, it did take some practice, but I figured if sensei could do it, why couldn't I?

Of course, it didn't help that sensei made it look like he switched places with Sakura-chan. We looked to see where Sakura-chan previously was, but were both caught from behind by sensei. It turned out he just made a smoke cloud and used a henge to look like Sakura-chan. Useful trick, that.

Tired and beaten, we left the training area to our separate destinations. I was too tired to ask Sakura-chan out. I know I'll get her someday though. She's even lessened the number of times she asked out Sasuke, so maybe she's realizing there's more than just him.

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After a quick dinner of instant ramen, I packed today's mission pay into a loose floorboard before sealing it back shut. By now, I had gathered a nice bit of money for a rainy day or if I ever got to take Sakura-chan out for a date. Luckily, I wasn't being charged rent yet. I had about 3 more months before Jiji said he would start having me pay rent. Apparently, the first few months of being genin were still covered under the shinobi orphan funds. How kind.

I pick up a scroll on memory improvement before leaving my apartment to train with Asuma-sensei. I figure that I'll have time to do some light reading since I'm arriving early. The last couple weeks have shown me that tardiness would be rewarded with genjutsu traps set up by sensei.

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By the time I made it to the training ground, the sun was setting and gave me a wonderful view of the skys turning shades of orange and pink. 'Mmm,' I mused, 'Truly even the heavens think it would be good for me and Sakura-chan to be together.'

Shaking my head out of my thoughts, I sat myself on the rock bench and started to read my scroll before sensei arrived. In the past few days, we had been working on training my brain to absorb more information to be better at recognizing when details suddenly changed in the environment and to eventually be better able to trick people with subtle genjutsu.

It's surprising what we take for granted with our eyes. At first, I thought this would be easy to know what you saw with a glance, but there's a lot that we don't consciously see with our eyes. If I were to even look at this training area that I have frequently used, I wouldn't be able to recall how tall the grass was, what shade was it, where the potholes were, how high were some of the uneven parts of the ground, and so many other details that just trying to memorize what was on the ground is hard, let alone the rest of the area. Truly, going into genjutsu is no easy task.

I have been seeing improvement, however. I'm better able to spot traps now, rather than just setting traps. In fact, even my trap setting has improved; I think I could even catch the chunnin that used to chase me around the village when I skipped class!

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My first clue was when I started reading the history of wind jutsu. I suppose Asuma-sensei is nearby if he could even match the print of the passage with the rest of the scroll. Unless of course, he remembered reading this before- that's possible too. Still, I continue reading. I still haven't abandoned my interest in jutsu and it would be interesting to see how much sensei knows about jutsu. My inner prankster is also excited that I'll get to surprise him once he tries to sneak up on me like he has before. Finally, the tables will be turned.

Setting my face back to its previous expression, I tried to make it seem like I hadn't noticed anything and that my eyes were just staring at the page.

I sigh as I hear overly loud clapping a few meters away from me. I've been caught.

"Sorry kid, but you're going to have to get better at hiding your body language if you don't want me to realize you noticed me and wanted to surprise me," comments sensei around his cigarette. Thankfully, it wasn't lit; my nose hates that smell. Something about it just makes it itchy.

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"Well, we'll be working on the limits of your perception for today. I'm going to again show you illusions that you'll have to pick apart from what you recalled on your first glance. This time, however, we will be moving around the place so you don't get too comfortable in one area. A standing shinboi is a dead shinobi."

Without further introduction, Asuma-sensei lunged at me with a kunai at a speed that made it obvious he wanted to just prod me to move. I followed his movements and retreated, leaping back a few meters to scan the area around me. The purpose of this lesson was to observe and identify; I'm sure he wouldn't really stab me. I hope.

The area around me shifted suddenly and warped before returning to what I previously saw. This was sensei's sign that the lesson just started. I hurriedly scanned the scenery in front of me to see what was missing or changed.

Rock bench is at the same place- still made of rock.

Grass is cut evenly as before with the same mole hills.

Above ground then?

I scanned the trees fencing the area off from the outside. Nothing seemed different.

Growing worried, I slowed my scanning eyes to focus on each part of the trees to see what was missing.

Nothing?

Confused, I looked over at Asuma-sensei, only to see nothing. Where was-Oh!

Clasping my hands together in the ram seal, I pulsed a burst of chakra to cancel the illusion. Sensei appeared and looked inquisitively at me.

Hesitantly, I answered the unspoken question, "Everything was the same except you weren't here. I didn't see any imprints on the grass, or anything that would show you were in the same field as me?"

"Is that a question, or an answer," Asuma-sensei mused.

"Answer?" I confirmed.

Rolling his eyes, sensei nodded, "Yes, I hid all signs of my presence. I also changed some of the leaves at the tree tops to be brighter than what would normally be seen this late in the day."

Cursing, I asked how that how the color change was important.

"Because sometimes, a genjutsu user may be careless with details and overcompensate some details to make the illusion more realistic; those overcompensations will be vital to determine what the user is trying to do. He could be emphasizing the shade of one spot to hide a trap that he wants to lead you to; or he could even make a spot appear to catch the glare of the sun to prevent you from looking at that direction- it may be an injured comrade he knows you'll use against him, or even his real body."

Nodding in wonder, I realized I didn't even consider those possibilities. Urgh, it's like everyone likes to use Kakashi-sensei's favorite saying. How am I supposed to look underneath all of these details if the first details are hard enough?

"Well, that's what all this practice is for, Naruto-kun," answered back sensei. Huh, I guess I thought out loud again.

Clapping his hands to get my attention, sensei began, "That's enough rest, let's continue now. We have several more of these scenarios to run through."

Determined to succeed, I glared at my surroundings to put it all into my memories.

I will not back down from this. I will learn it and bring my dreams to reality.

Definitely.

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A/N: So here's another chapter of Shinobi-In-Training. I hope you guys are enjoying it. I'm taking time to develop Naruto's training since it'll be an important foundation for future fights. Don't worry, we'll get to fights soon enough as things heat up after Naruto's primary training. Please review and tell me what you think of this story.

LordOwl


	7. Chapter 7: Reality Unravels

Chapter 7: Reality Unravels

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I was running. The villagers were chasing me again and I was running. Again.

Today is the Kyuubi festival, but instead of celebrating the Kyuubi, we demonize it for almost destroying Konoha. Until I graduated, I always wondered why people hated me so much more on this day.

I know this is a dream, but the fear is all too real. Phantom pains dog my steps as I try to persevere in the face of my memories of a time when one mob got too much ground over me. The mob following me is several times larger and just as scarier.

I try to pulse my chakra to escape from this illusion, but that just serves to drive the mob closer to my location. Do I just keep running until I wake up?

This isn't right.

It's not right that I have to run away from these idiots. No, it's not right at all.

I stop running and I feel the mob's surprise at my sudden stop. Some of them finally gather up their wits and shout out a taunt, "What's wrong demon? Finally ready for your punishment? We were having such fun chasing you too!"

Slowly, as I feel the blood pounding through by veins, I turn to face them. They are many. But I am Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage. I will not bow down to these people anymore. It is not their right; it is not my duty. I am a Konoha-nin and I will no longer bow to my nightmare.

Taking my glare as a challenge, the mob bellows forth a war cry before charging at me. Their movements come slowly to my eyes as I breathe a long deep breath in. Out.

Gathering chakra, I call forth an illusion I read in one of the books Asuma-sensei suggested to me.

"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing technique"

Their cries of triumph turn into cries of anguish as their charge crashes to their knees; their hands clawing at their eyes to stop what they see.

I feel a foreign grin spread across my face. It spreads until I almost feel my face splitting in half. I hear an approving murmur behind me. I turn to face the source of this sound and see that the village around me has erupted into flames. The inferno reaches as high as some of the tallest trees in Konoha, but none of the fires compare to the sight that awaits me. There, crouched over me with its menacing face smirking at me. I see the Kyuubi.

Its grin widens at seeing me look up at him. Belatedly, I realize that I'm still wearing the same grin as the Kyuubi.

"Amazing isn't it, Ningen? Amazing how much you can accomplish!"

I stand there mute as its face comes closer towards me, fangs rippling with danger. I do nothing as those same fangs open and swallow me whole, grinning all the while.

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I spring forward from my sleep. As the dream fades and I realize I am back in reality, I shudder at what had happened. I wouldn't really harm the villagers like that, would I?

Rubbing my eyes over my tired face, I murmur to myself for comfort.

"Sure, they suck and all, but they're still as much of a part of this village as I am right?"

"I'm sure they will come around."

"Not all of them can be that bad; they still have people that love them, that means they're good enough to be loved right?"

"Does that mean that I do not deserve to be loved if so many of them hate me?"

"But Iruka-sensei and Jiji care about me!"

"They're not lying either right?"

Continuing to rub my head, I frown, "It was just a dream, Naruto. Pull yourself together. Today's a day closer to become Hokage! I'll win over the villagers one day. Count on it! Mm!"

Grunting in determination, I slide out of bed to begin the new day.

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I meet the others at the same bridge again and we wait for Kakashi-sensei to show up late.

It seems that all three of us were tired this morning, so we settled into a comfortable silence. The river was sure peaceful today. The birds were chirping peacefully and all was well.

I just wish Kakashi-sensei wouldn't always be so late!

As if wondering the magic words, sensei appeared before us in a swirl of leaves. How dramatic!

Signaling us to run with him, we sighed as we took off. I can just feel it's going to be one of those days.

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After going through our conditioning, sensei told us that we would not be having a mission today so he could have enough time to gauge our progress. I had to go through so many tests with and without Sakura-chan and Sasuke that it took all my energy to stand at the end of sensei's crucible.

He really was thorough when he wanted to be; he had us go through exercises alone and then with one of our teammates and then with all three of us and so forth. Bedsides assessing our physical conditions, he gave us puzzles to test our minds and mission simulations to test our teamwork. By the gods, this man was thorough.

"Alright team. You can rest for half an hour now. We'll break for lunch and then I'll have you spar with each other to see how far you've progressed in combat. Make sure to not kill each other, okay?"

Thank merciful spirits watching over us. Sighing, I pulled out my simple lunch of ham and spinach sandwiches. Kakashi-sensei had helped me secure a market that would actually sell me produce at a reasonable price. It wasn't ramen, but sensei had said I'd grow big and tall with some more greens. What are greens without meat though?

Quietly, I munched on the sandwiches as I watched my other teammates. Sakura-chan brought out a small lunch of salad-was there even any meat in there? Shrugging, I tiredly offered Sakura-chan a sandwich to which she declined. At least she was thankful about the gesture.

Looking at Sasuke, I saw his fancy bento with-oh my god, was that karaage and hamburg steak? That-that lucky bastard! Fuming, I settled back to my own lunch, its taste not as great anymore. Feh, only someone like Sasuke would be able to afford what was obviously a fancy restaurant take-out lunch for a simple day of training.

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Lunch time ended and we wobbly stood back up to face Kakashi-sensei. I could tell that all three of us would be very sore tomorrow morning. Wait, tomorrow is Saturday right? YES! No training tomorrow!

Almost dancing in delight, my grin was stopped dead as I found sensei looming over me. Warily, cursing my revelry, I slowly lifted my head to look at what would undoubtedly be- yup, sensei was smiling at me. I think I'll start calling that his sadist smile. Yes. It doesn't bode well for me at all.

"Ara, ara, well if Naruto-kun has so much energy, why don't I review him first?"

Cursing, I followed him to the middle of the clearing as I saw the subtle smirk of Sasuke and heard Sakura-chan's small breath of relief. Well, if Sakura-chan is helped by this, why not?

Taking my position, I launched myself at sensei, looking for any weak points to take advantage of.

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After my review, which was more like a one-sided beating, I swiftly concluded that even if Sakura-chan was helped by me going first, there will have to be a better reason for volunteering to this brutality in the future.

No, I am not feeling bitter at all that I got my butt handed to me on the point of two irritatingly hard fingers.

Damn it, sensei, stop with the ass-pokes already, 'tebayo.

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"Well, Naruto-kun has improved quite a bit," smiled sensei. What? I did? Sure didn't feel like it.

"In fact, it only took me 15 minutes for me to end the spar, Naruto-kun! 1 more minute than last time," smiled an irritating Kakashi-sensei. Damn it sensei, that comment earlier was just the set up for this wasn't it? I narrowed my eyes in suspicion at sensei.

Waving his hands in apologies, sensei continued in a more serious voice, "But really, Naruto, you've improved nicely. It may not feel that way when you're up against someone as strong as I am, but you've made a lot of headway in your fighting style and tactics. Keep working on it and your genjutsu and you'll surpass me one day."

Perking up, I couldn't help but quietly ask a doubtful, "Really?"

My response was Kakashi-sensei walking up to me and ruffling my hair, "Aw, but don't you guys get there too fast for me to not baby you again, my cute gennin."

Scowling in embarrassment, I couldn't stop the soft glow that I had been acknowledged for my efforts. Well, it's slowly coming together.

"Alright, next is Sasuke-kun. Come up now."

Sighing, Sasuke slowly walked up to the center of the clearing to face a leisurely standing sensei. I wonder how this will turn out?

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Though Sasuke was maybe able to corner sensei slightly more than myself, he still didn't make a terrifically impressive showing. His time was just as short as mine, oddly enough. Sakura-chan's was much shorter, at almost two-thirds of my sparring time.

Settling into his seat across from us, we sat in a circle to discuss how we could improve individually and as a team.

Finally, it was time for us to spar with each other. I went easy on Sakura-chan since she's delicate- though my bumps would say otherwise-but went full force against Sasuke. Someone had to deflate his head right? Yeah!

Only, that's not how it turned out.

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Facing across from Sasuke, I activated my shadow clone jutsu to get two aides on both of my sides. The five of us charged at him in a reverse crescent formation with the outermost clones approaching him first. I saw Sasuke flash through a few seals before holding his fingers to his mouth. I preemptively dodged out of the way. Thank goodness for that, for it was a fireball that he sprouted out of his mouth. Welp, there goes three of my clones. My other clone went in for a pincer attack with me.

Stupid non-academy style. He blocked both our punches and smashed us against each other. We lessened the blow by swerving out of the way, but we lost our balance for a moment. And that moment was all teme needed to sweep my foot out from under me and kick me across a few feet. As he dealt with my other clone, I conjured more to keep him busy as I tried to think of an assault plan.

Seeing my hesitation, he taunted out, "What's wrong, Dobe? No genjutsu? I would have figured that even someone as stupid as you would have at least gotten something down by now. After all these weeks, truly, who is the poor fool that's teaching you?"

Angry, I tried to retort, only to realize I couldn't! Damn it, he's right. Even after all this time, I haven't learned a single genjutsu! What was I doing, training with Asuma-sensei?! Growling under my breath, I challenged Sasuke, "Oh yeah? Well you don't even deserve my genjutsu if you can't handle my clones!"

I sent wave after wave of clones at the bastard. The guy may have been fast, but I was eventually able to tire him out and forced him into a tie where we both kicked each other's chest. Not willing to back down to the other, we both stood with heaving chests, trying to regain our breathing. At that point, Kakashi-sensei called us to halt and went over what we did and should correct in the future.

Still, the knowledge that I haven't really learned any genjutsu bothered me.

At the end, sensei dismissed us and I went to grab dinner before seeing Asuma-sensei. I really need to talk to him.

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It was during training with Asuma-sensei that night when I finally exploded; he was going over what I missed in his genjutsu once again.

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"Argh!" I roared out, exasperated, "Why do I have to work so hard on detection? It's been two weeks already and you haven't even taught me anything about actually making genjutsu! Sasuke-teme's been making fun of me mercilessly about that. Why can't you just teach me casting and detection equally?"

"Naruto," sighed Asuma, "I know it's frustrating, but you need to learn to detect genjutsu at a high level before casting genjutsu of equal or lesser potency, or you may end up getting hurt by them-"

Fed up with the same explanation, I interrupted him, "I know! I know, but I figure I have enough detection skill to at least make some of the lesser illusions right?! This is ridiculous! It's not like I need to learn how to make a firewall before learning to breathe out a fireball; heck, I don't think Sasuke even knows any defensive techniques and he's still unharmed! That's more than I can say about myself in our spars-"

"Be quiet," Asuma harshly interrupted, "I'm doing this for a reason. If you won't listen to reason anymore, then perhaps you won't need my help anymore." Turning his back to me, he started walking away.

Wait. I don't want this. I don't want to be abandoned like this. He already acknowledged I can do this! "Asuma-sensei!" I called out, running after him, "Please don't leave. I'm sorry, okay?!" I stood my ground as he stopped a short distance from me. Feeling my thoughts break down, I tried to somehow explain to him that I just wanted to learn genjutsu casting. It's not like I wanted to offend him!

Finally, after a period of waiting for a response from him, he sighed and turned around. "Alright, I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. I forget, sometimes, what it's like to have such a driven student," wincing at the implied meaning of his words, he continued at seeing my hopeful face, "I'll start teaching you…casting."

Jumping in cheer, I celebrated with all the ideas that I had thought up during our training time and in my dreams, only to be interrupted.

"-But let me first show you why I wanted you to learn detection so much first."

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Guiding me, Asuma-sensei led me to the Konoha hospital. We went up several floors before going down a dimly lit hallway to reach a guarded metal door. The door looked really heavy, like it was supposed to resist an explosion. Why would something like this be here? I've heard of ninja who really want to escape the hospital for active duty, but this is kind of overkill, isn't it? Sensei showed a tag to the ANBU guard at the door. At his nod, sensei and I were allowed into the guarded wing.

After walking past some cells; some loud; some quiet, we stopped at one cell with the door's observation slot closed shut.

Sighing, almost as if he was bracing himself, Asuma-sensei tensed up and slowly reached towards the door window to slide it open. He beckoned me to look through it and I did.

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I saw a man.

He was sitting down against a wall away from us, his legs casually crossed perpendicular to each other with his right arm resting on his raised kneecap. His clothes were ragged and his hair was frayed. His skin was smooth, though it bore the passing of time similar to Asuma-sensei's and Kakashi-sensei's skin. He was mumbling to himself and whispering at someone. There was no one else in this room was there? As I narrowed my eyes to see into the dark room- why was it dark anyways? I saw two figures in the room around him. How did I miss them? Slowly, they started taking shape before my eyes and I saw one slightly older ninja and another much older ninja resting their hands on his shoulders. I strained my ears to hear what was going on. The younger shinobi looked familiar.

"I did good, right Papa? Yes, Asuma-sempai's growing strong and both of us will rise to jounin soon. I know we'll do well. Those Iwa shinobi have no chance at all! Ha-ha. Hah" he laughed with a dry breath.

Asuma-sempai? Wait…

Asuma interrupted my thoughts, "He was a comrade that I respected greatly. I took him as my adopted little brother. He was very talented, and he could match up with the best of us. His genjutsu were second to almost none. He was…great- until he overstretched himself; it was all to protect his team- to protect me and my other teammate while we were on our way to reinforce a squad that was being attacked at our borders."

In response to my curious gaze, Asuma-sensei continued for me, "He used an experimental genjutsu that he was developing. There was no time for alternatives. We needed him right there and then; I was concussed and both my hands were messed up; our other teammate had already died. And he…broke under the pressure of maintaining it. It was too powerful for him to detect what was real and what was false. We didn't even realize it at first; it had convinced even sensei, one of the top shinobi of this village. By then, it was too late and the effects were already irreversible. He had become lost in his own illusions. He even fought us when we tried to heal him. Look at this man, Naruto. Look at what was once a promising member of this village reduced to nothing but a warning to others of the dangers of genjutsu- not just to the subjects, but to the wielders themselves."

"What? But if that's the case, then why are there people in there with him?"

Chuckling grimly, Asuma-sensei raised his hands and let out a chakra pulse that surprised me enough to jump in shock. Was there an enemy nearby?

Pointing a resolute finger back at the viewing slot, sensei commanded, "Look again."

Confused, I stood on the tips of my toes again to see into the room. Those two shinobi…were no longer there anymore? Instead, I saw the guy in the room snap his head up and raise his head warily.

"Asuma? Tou-sama? Where are you?" He frantically asked, before he rushed through the room and slammed himself against the door, his arm scratching at the viewing slot, "Where are they, you bastards?! What have you done with them? Where am I?"

With a resigned sigh, I see Asuma-sensei forcing chakra to his hands and then place the hands onto a panel connected to the door. Looking back at the door, I see the room dimly light up blue with what I realize to be activated seals along the walls and floor. A crackle resounds throughout the room and I see the room's inhabitant slump down.

Shaking, I see Asuma-sensei's hand slide the viewing port closed again as he rests his other hand tightly on my shoulder to guide me out of the ward. I barely hear his whispered words, their pain not as muted and almost detached, "Goodbye, Momaru-ototo. Get better soon."

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As we exited the mental hospital, moods somber, I contemplated what I just saw. That was what happened when you fell into your own illusions? How do genjutsu specialists handle it then? I didn't think it was this dangerous! Heck, I didn't even realize I was caught up in a genjutsu when I saw the man!

A pat on my shoulder woke me from my hurried thoughts. Asuma's voice grounded me back to where I was at the present. "I know it was a shock to see that. But that is why I want you to get your detection and dispelling as high as possible before proceeding to casting genjutsu. It is testament of my faith in your abilities that I'm making sure these two abilities are firmly grounded before letting you take off. I know that you are a great shinobi, Naruto-kun," At this I couldn't help but lighten up.

"But that is why I'm putting so much care in you. I know that once I start teaching you how to cast genjutsu, you will take off and progress rapidly. If your detection isn't up to snuff, you'll be delving into the same depths that Momaru entered before he too was ready. Have faith in my teaching, Naruto. If nothing else, know that I would never endanger a fellow shinobi by steering them wrong or by slowing their training."

Feeling a blush of shame at my doubt, I lowered my head, muttering, "Sorry."

The hand on my shoulder shifted up to my head before ruffling it. It felt good. Though embarrassing.

Scowling up at him, my face lightened as I saw his smile, "Hey there, that look doesn't suit you. You're supposed to be saying you'll get detection up to par with Hokage-sama. Right? Chibi-kage?" He playfully mused.

Thoughts lightening, I stared determinedly down the road. 'Yes,' I thought happily, 'The road may be long and dangerous, but I'm definitely getting there to becoming Hokage. If even my teach acknowledges this, then I think I can take more time in learning what he teaches."

* * *

A/N: I think that when casting genjutsu, the user himself has to at least partially sympathize with the target to make sure the victim is experiencing what the user wants him to experience. For example, How is it that Kurenai knows where to appear to stab an opponent in her tree genjutsu if she didn't know what the target was experiencing? I guess a counter-argument would be that Itachi probably doesn't experience a thousand swords stabbing into him when he put Kakashi in a genjutsu, but again, the user only needs to sympathize with the target to better apply the illusion, not fully experience it.

Anyways, that's my thoughts on the matter. If you know what the target is experiencing, it's easier to trick them into subsequent illusions.

So now you see why Asuma is focusing so much on detection before teaching casting. I think this concern is especially warranted when the Kyuubi is rumored to be able to cast almost solid illusions. And don't think this will be the last time you will be seeing Momaru.

Until next time, I hope you enjoyed this and review,

LordOwl


	8. Chapter 8: Genjutsu Training (1)

Chapter 8: Genjutsu Training (1)

* * *

Asuma-sensei sat across from me on the wooden bench that we rested ourselves on. I think he's thinking about what to teach me, so I let my thoughts wonder.

I am conflicted. On one hand, I'm glad that sensei showed me his friend. I'm certainly not as eager to learn genjutsu now. It's a very serious field. If I make a mistake, it's not like I will be burning my hands when practicing genjutsu. I'll be destroying my mind! Still, I want to learn. This must be powerful if it's so dangerous. Yes! I will learn it!

Hearing a cough across from me, I look at sensei to see if he is ready to continue.

"Well," eased out sensei, "I think you're more mentally ready for learning genjutsu than when you first started."

Interested, I find myself leaning forwards to hear what he has to say. Is this it?

"I will start you off on a couple beginner genjutsu and we will see how you handle it from there. The basics are the most important. With those mastered, you can do anything you want above them."

Yes! This is finally happening!

Smiling at me, sensei continues, "Let's go over how to perform the _Shikaku Gotta_ (Vision Scrambler). The seals are Tori, Tatsu, Inu, Uma," while slowly practicing the four seals.

"Essentially, The four signs yank the target's chakra in multiple directions, scrambling his vision. Tori represents the eighth month and Bird; Tatsu is the third month and Dragon; Inu is the ninth month and Dog; Uma is the fifth month and Horse. Because you are focusing your chakra through these self-contradicting signs, you can reflect this same conflict in the victim and mess with his chakra. You won't be able to perfectly gauge the person's vision changes from the scrambler, but practice will help you control its effects."

What?

I guess my confusion could be seen on my face, because sensei stopped himself and repeated the same explanation. Still no good. Why is there a conflict between the four signs again? Isn't that a bad thing?

Sighing, sensei pauses for a bit, scratching his head. "Let's see…," he murmurs, "Well, you remember how I said that a genjutsu forms because you are using your chakra to cause the other person's chakra to react in a way that creates the illusion in his mind, right?"

Slowly nodding at him, sensei continues, "Well, do you know what happens when you mess with the chakra of a person's vision center?" A negative shake of my head has sensei explaining, "your vision becomes similarly messed up. Makes sense right? If your body's energy is low, you're naturally tired too right?"

This is starting to make sense!

"Unlike how basic ninjutsu forms, you can't just direct your energy in one direction and watch the effects go without guidance; even basic genjutsu needs you to continuously guide the energy to maintain its effects in reality. If you let go of your hold, the illusion disappears. Still, if you manage the first step of stretching your chakra into another's chakra system, you are well on your way to using genjutsu."

Stretching out his legs, Asuma-sensei gets off the bench and gestures at me to follow. We both stand on the cool grass and he tells me that he will be performing the technique on me to give me a feel for the illusion.

His hands move through the four handseals and I see a blinding rush of colors.

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My vision starts shifting through different images at a fast pace and the colors are bizarre. One moment, I'm seeing orange grass shift into blue clouds, and then I see the trees swirl around my vision to go through the ground and pop out as purple rocks. Gah! What is this?!

The changes are so fast and blinding that I feel myself shaking my head to no effect. How do I stop this? Oh right! Disrupt my chakra! I gather a pulse of chakra in the center of my body as I was taught and then force it all out at once. With an audible 'whoosh,' my vision clears up and I am looking at Asuma-sensei again.

Cocking an eyebrow at me, sensei speaks, "Well, it's good to see you can dispel under a genjutsu, but we're going to also have to work on your chakra control." A look of unease passes through his face as he dips his head down in thought, his hand tapping his chin. What's wrong now?

"You know…it might be good to practice on an animal before practicing on a human. I know it's a rare occasion, but I have heard of people being permanently damaged by illusions before. I don't mean that they found themselves stumbling over cliffs either. I remember one time when Kurenai overloaded her genjutsu and made a person permanently blind. It's usually not a cause for concern among budding genjutsu specialists since that level of chakra use is rare, but I forget that you have a lot of chakra in particular," I found his gaze drawn towards my belly. He knows? Is he going to hold it against me? No, of course not. He wouldn't spend so much time teaching me unless he wanted to. Right?

I focus back on the situation at hand. Asuma is looking around the clearing for an animal to practice on, but what if I used a kage bushin instead? I ask him. Surprised, he cocks an eyebrow at me, "Oh? You know the kage bushin no jutsu? How many can you make?"

Happy to share, I say that I once made what looked like 300 once during the fight with Mizuki-teme. Now, with both eyebrows raised in disbelief, sensei gestures at me to create a clone. I put enough chakra for what I think is one clone and out pops two clones. Huh, I guess I was a bit enthusiastic with that one. Oh well, one more for prosperity and all.

Asuma beckons me to practice on the clone and I think of the four seals before slowly going over them. Without chakra, I practice the seals, slowly working my fingers into those shapes. I remember practicing each seal in the academy, but it was always in order from Tora to Ushi, not in this pattern. Confident that I practiced enough, I start channeling chakra to them, then I stop. Didn't sensei say that too much chakra will destroy the vision? Gulping nervously, I form the seals slower and try to put as little chakra as possible into the genjutsu.

I direct the built up energy to the clone across from me who has taken a ready position, not unlike about to be executed. Did he realize the same thing as me? Well, at least he won't be permanently hurt right?

I direct the energy to him and his entire body winces when I move my hands to his direction. We wait for something to happen. Opening one eye, my clone looks around and then looks at me, curious. What happened? Did it not work? Relief floods my clone's body as he relaxes, sure that the genjutsu failed. Huh. What happened?

I look at Asuma-sensei in confusion and he nods at me before speaking, "I'm sure you're wondering what it didn't work." I nod and he continues, "Well, tell me, how are you to have the person go through a genjutsu if you don't even know what you're targeting?" At this, I suddenly get a flash of inspiration. That's it!

I didn't target the brain correctly!

Seeing my reaction, sensei grunts, "Yup, you need to make sure you target the parts of the brain responsible for vision. If you don't do that, your chakra is just going to sit there."

I see. Then another question pops up and I ask, "But sensei, how do I target the vision part of the brain? Where's that?"

Gesturing to come closer, sensei squats and takes a branch from the ground before running through some seals. A jutsu? Ending his handsigns, he touches his right hand to the ground and the grass is blown off in a burst of wind. Woah!

He beckons me to come closer and squat down with him and sensei starts drawing something in the dirt. My clones also gather around us to see.

He slowly speaks while drawing what seems to be a brain, "This is the brain. There's a lot of different parts and I expect you to study this on your time off as I will not have the time to explain all of this to you. Our prime target is in this portion of the four lobes of the brain," seeing my confused look, he explains, "the main part of the brain is split into four regions, or lobes, the target for this genjutsu is the occipital lobe, or the region responsible for vision. You target this with the genjutsu, and your illusion should work. Just don't overpower it. Try to figure out the least amount of chakra to put into the illusion and work up from there. Never work down from highest use of chakra to less because you have a much higher amount of chakra than most people can safely handle."

With this, we continue practicing the genjutsu again.

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By the end of training, the moon has fully risen and I can feel my brain pounding with exhaustion. I mumble a grateful thanks to Asuma-sensei for teaching me and am about to stumble out of the clearing when his voice stops me.

"Naruto," he hesitantly begins, "I know you think people may hate you for the burden you carry."

My breath pauses and I freeze. Is this it? Is he going to reject me? Was he doing all this just as a favor to Kakashi-sensei? Is that not enough to put up with me any longer? But we were having so much fun too. Was that all a lie?

I slowly turn to face him. If I am going to be rejected, I will face it head-on, dattebayo.

Seeing my face, his face becomes more tense, "But that is not true, Naruto. Not all of us are so blind to what you carry and face everyday. There are some of us, no. There's many of us in the ninja corps that silently thank you for holding the beast at bay. If you are ever in need of help, you just need to ask us. Okay? For this very reason, you are always welcome at the shinobi library. If anyone wearing a Konoha headband ever gives you grief, tell me or Kakashi," Asuma-sensei's face firms up in grim determination, "We will make sure that they are brought to justice."

Agape at his words, I try to come up with a response. My body reacts before the words form and I feel liquid coming out of my eyes before realizing my eyes burn. Choking back a breath trying to escape from my throat, I mumble as I turn my face at an angle away from him, "Chsk, it must be part of the genjutsu training. My eyes hurt sensei."

I hear footsteps muffled by the grass come closer before feeling the sensation of strong warm arms close around me. I stiffen without meaning to and I hear sensei's gentle sounds of encouragement as he hugs me.

Not many people have ever hugged me in my life. Surprisingly, not jii-jii or much of anyone from when I was younger. In fact, my first hug was just recently when Iruka-sensei hugged me on that night that everything changed. Not used to this, I try to relax and return the hug, but my body feels so tense and hard to move. Sensei must have realized this because he just kept his hug tighter and kept murmuring words of encouragement as we stayed there for an unknown amount of time.

I am happy.

* * *

A/N: I hope everyone had a merry Christmas or happy holidays. This is the start of a new year and I hope many more people read this and can give me feedback. Hope everyone is working on their new year resolutions and enjoying the new year.

LordOwl

* * *

Technique Discovered!

_Shikaku Gotta_: "Vision Scrambler"- D Rank:

This technique works by essentially inserting a mess of chakra circulation signals into the victim's vision center. By doing this, the victim's vision becomes randomly distorted as the foreign chakra is running amok in his brain. This genjutsu is the starter genjutsu for many as it is not only simple, but the basis for many more advanced illusions that can be used to devastating effect.


	9. Chapter 9: Masked Reality

Chapter 9: Masked Reality

* * *

I was running again.

Through the alleys and through the sewers, I ran and was always being followed.

I do not know what is behind me, only that it is something I have a feeling I would definitely not like to be caught by.

I launch myself up from an open sewer entrance to find myself on the streets of Konoha surrounded by surprised villagers. As I look around, their appearances start changing as well. Surprised, I stand and stare as their shapes become hazy and colors start flashing through their silhouette. What is happening to them?

It is when they start sprouting black horns and ridges that I realize I should start running again. The buildings crumble as I continue my run down the Konoha main street. What is happening to my village? Where are the others? Are Iruka-sensei...Jiji…are they all gone too? Or have they become one of them?

I shudder in fright before mustering up my courage. I will not back down. If something's changed them, I will find a way to change them back!

I finally see the entrance to the Hokage's Tower just a few meters in front of me and sprint to those open doors. It is not a moment too soon as I slam them close and lock them shut in front of a stampeding crowd, their savage cries roaring forth their rage at being deprived of their prey. I feel a shudder going through me again. With shaking hands, I make sure the gate is locked.

Relieved that the gate is holding, despite the mob's determined pounding, I look around the lobby for any survivors or friendly faces. There is no one. The lights are off as well. I only see the emergency lights lit, their red glow casting an even more creepy look on the lobby.

I see the stairs leading up the tower and cautiously walk up the stairs that I previously ran up. Who knows what might be in this tower? It just doesn't feel like the tower that I'm used to visiting. The stairs are dimly lit with the rare light fixtures and I try to hide in the shadows. Maybe those things rely on sight to find people.

Finally, after a long time, I see the closed doors of the Hokage's office. The secretary desk is unmanned and there's not even a sign of a struggle. As I stand in front of the doors, I take a deep breath. 'Brace yourself, Naruto,' I think to myself, 'Get ready for whatever's in there, and pray Jiji survived. We can look for Iruka-sensei later.'

My shaking hands reach up to the door knob and I slowly twist it, hoping that I am not alerting whatever is in the office. The lock releases and I slowly open the door and peer through the opening to what is in the office. I see…someone sitting on the desk chair that Jiji usually sits. Dread fills me. His back is facing me, but it still doesn't look like Jiji. Not at all.

"W-Who are you?" I curse myself. Why do I sound so scared?

The figure stirs and stands up from Jiji's chair and breathes in a harsh laugh that carries itself through the room.

"Tell me, damn it!" I shout at him. Who does he think he is? "Are you the one doing this to all the people? What are you here for?!"

The figure turns and my breath hitches in my throat as I realize it is Momaru that was sitting in Jiji's seat.

"Ah, I see that you made it to the big show, Naruto-kun," Momaru whispers to me, "Did you like my creations? I thought it would be fitting."

"You did this? Why?!" I furiously ask.

"Because, dear Naruto, those are the real faces of the villagers," an uncomfortable glow radiates from Momaru's eyes as he continues, "Those are the real faces of the villagers. That is how you really see them. If anything, what you see them as when awake is just a fake façade of what they wish they would appear to others. Of course, their identity overwrites anything others think of them, so that's why they appear like that in the waking world, but we both know what they really are."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about these demons in human skin that surround us, Naruto-kun," Momaru's whispers reach a fever pitch as his voice starts to run irregularly, almost gasping erratically from one set of words to another, "We see them because we are special, you and I."

"We," Momaru gestures at him and I, "are special."

"We are genjutsu prodigies," he quirks his fingers as if to quote 'prodigies,' "What we really are…are the true secret keepers who know what everyone else look like."

"There is no such thing as unseen in our eyes; we see all, Naruto-kun," Momaru whispers, his voice lingering on pronouncing 'we,' "We have a duty, you and I."

"We have a duty to keep the world's real face from being seen," Momaru pulls out some sort of body-sized bag.

'What is in that bag?' I wonder to myself, 'I need to take him down to make this all right, but how?'

"Now, now, my little protégé," Momaru chides while waving his finger, "We can't have you trying to stop our mission, can we?"

With a wave of his hand, almost dismissively, a chair pops out from under me, kicking my legs from beneath me and cause me to fall into its hold. Chains descend from the ceiling and wrap around my wrists as I struggle to my feet. Damn it, how did this happen?

I hear footsteps echo in the distance and raise my head to see that Momaru is now in front of me, leaning towards my face. I rear my head back in surprise, accidentally slamming my head against the wooden headrest.

"Oh no!" Momaru cries in alarm, "We can't have you damaging your beautiful brain, can we? After all, if you can't see the world, then I will be so lonely." He brings his hands up to the back of my head, caressing my hair gently. Ugh, I feel…wrong. What is this emotion? I feel vomit rear itself at the bottom of my throat. Ugh.

"Poor thing," Momaru gently murmurs with worry, "We can't have you leaving so soon, can we? We've got so much stuff to do."

'Leave so soon?' I wonder, 'What does he mean by that?'

Momaru walks back to the desk where the bag is resting on. He lifts it up, before facing me and continues, "Now, as I was saying, we still have a job to do."

"What's in the bag?" I ask.

"Oh, just the tools we need to make sure the world never sees its true self. After all, if people knew what others really were like, they'd kill everyone right? What other reaction can there be to realizing everyone is a monster except for us? So, for their own good, we need to make sure that secret is kept to our chest," Momaru rests his fingers on the zipper of the bag, "if each person thought that he had everyone else fooled, they won't reveal their secret hideous nature and the world keeps running, don't you see?"

Not at all. This does not make sense at all, but I play along. Let's see if there's some way to get out of this. I'll trick him into thinking me an ally. And then I will find everyone else.

"I'm so glad you finally see the light; and it only took a chained chair to do that," muses Momaru, "Then, without further ado, here's the skins for every person whose secrets we will keep!"

Momaru quickly unzips the bag and a large mass of clothes spill out!

There are many different clothes in just as many different patterns and sizes. What is all of this? As the clothes continue to pour out, a hill starts to form and then a wave of the clothes that gradually touch my feet. Upon closer inspection, I realize there's also something attached to all the clothes. It looks like- it looks like skin! With horror, I look at the opening to where the necks would be and see a face with gaping black holes where the eyes, nostrils and mouth are. As the pile grows, I look at several more and see a big hole in the back of the head's skin. At this point, the bodies are up to my chest. What is happening?!

"See, I thought it would be weird to keep all the secrets of the world without at least taking up a secret ourselves. So," Momaru takes up a skin from the flowing bag and stretches the hole in the back of the head with both arms, stretching the face to a grotesque feature, "I thought we each should take up an identity as well!"

Waving grandly at the growing pile pressing against my sides, he suggests, "Now go on and pick one out. Oh, it seems you're having trouble moving. Don't worry, the next one that falls on your head will just be your identity then. It's like a lottery, Naruto-kun!" Momaru hopes to and fro, almost dancing on top of the moving wave of faces.

As the bodies build up to my neck, I see one fly out and start to land on me, its hole dark and almost alive in its attempt to swallow me. There is…something wrong with that hole. It's like it will suck me up and eat me alive!

The hole comes closer to my face. I hear a loud terrified cry as darkness covers my vision.

NO!


	10. Chapter 10: Interlude

Chapter 10: Interlude

I feel trapped and I try to wring myself away from whatever is trying to keep me locked down. I struggle and fall only to feel cold hard tiles beneath me. I open up my eyes and look around. I'm in my apartment again. It was…

It was just a dream.

I breathe a sigh of relief from under the bed. Thank Kami for that mercy. I thought I was going to…I shudder violently in the cold morning.

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The less I think of that disturbing dream, the better. I get ready for a day of training,

I wonder what I will be learning today?

Yesterday, I learned and kept practicing the _Shikaku_ _Gotta_ technique until bedtime. I also learned that my clones' experiences get transferred to me as well. Surprised to hear that I was not taught this after learning the technique, Asuma-sensei said that I could use them to learn knowledge that did not require physical training as well. What an awesome training tool! With this, I will be Hokage in a year!

As I stepped out of my apartment, my thoughts lingered on what else happened during training. Asuma-sensei had acknowledged that I had the Kyuubi…but instead of shunning me, he actually said I could come to him if I needed anything. My lips opened into a big grin at the comfort of that memory. Kakashi-sensei must know too, so he must not care about the stupid fox as well!

Running to the training spot in joy, I spotted Sakura-chan and Sasuke waiting on the bridge.

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"Ohayo Sakura-Chan! Sasuke!" I waved at them both.

Surprised, Sakura waved back while Sasuke warily nodded.

"Oh, you're in a good mood, aren't you Naruto?" asked Sakura.

"Yup, yup. I've finally learned a genjutsu technique! You better watch out, teme!" I stuck my tongue out at Sasuke.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow as he smirked that ever-frustrating superior smirk at me, "Hn. As if I have anything to worry about from you, dobe," he grunted.

Growling at him, I made to mock him with the handsigns before my hands were stopped midway. I looked up and gulped at the sight of a frowning Kakashi-sensei staring down at me.

"Maa, maa, Naruto," came the disapproving voice of sensei, "While I'm glad you learned something new, do you think the best thing to do is to use it on a teammate without warning? That's rather terrible of you," sensei's voice became more serious. "What if I used a katon jutsu on you without warning? It could also harm you. Should I use it unannounced?" Sensei's fingers tightened momentarily before letting go as he back away for me to explain myself.

"Eh, sensei…I wasn't really trying to use the genjutsu on him. I just wanted to show I knew the technique. I didn't even build up any chakra for it!" I protested. Come on, I wasn't so cowardly as to attack teme unannounced…except that one time during lunch- but that was an exception for Sakura-chan!

I guess sensei must have seen the truth because he smiled at me next, "I know, Naruto-kun. I just wanted to make sure you know this. All of you too," sensei stared at my other teammates until they responded in the affirmative, though Sasuke's response was still a grunt.

Nodding, sensei smiled, "Well then, since everyone's feeling so energetic, let's go straight to drills before we get to missions."

At seeing his suddenly mischievous smile, we all groaned. At least we were doing that as a team.

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After a hellish training session that brought us around the village, we finished missions and settled down in our training area for sparring. I am up against Sasuke now and preparing my mind to cast a genjutsu when Kakashi-sensei's voice rings out across the clearing, freezing me in my tracks.

"Oh, Naruto? No genjutsu please. This is still going to be a taijutsu-only spar."

My brain takes a bit of time to process his words before my mouth starts moving, "WHAT?" I yell out in disbelief, "Why can't I use genjutsu on him? I worked hard on it all night!"

"Well, let me ask you this. How would you feel about Sasuke letting lose a flamethrower jutsu on you? Hm? I imagine you wouldn't like it, right?" He asks while I shake my head. No, I would not like Sasuke using fire jutsu on me, but…

"So would it be fair of me to forbid ninjutsu from him and allow genjutsu from you? I'm sure Sasuke spent a lot of time on ninjutsu as well as you on genjutsu," chided sensei.

Grr, this sucks! But I can't argue with sensei on that. Plus, what would Sakura-chan use on us if we were allowed our jutsu?

Sighing, I nod my head to agree and retake my position across from Teme. Teme is smirking at me again. Teme.

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Teme, teme, teme, teme, teme, teme, TEME!

Swears rush through my head as I see Sasuke-teme overpowering me in taijutsu and handing my headband on a silver platter. It's so frustrating. If we're only allowed taijutsu, then I should really practice it more. He's using that funky taijutsu style of his too! How is that fair?

Finally, sensei ends the spar in Sasuke's favor and I make that complaint known.

"Well, while it is true that Sasuke is using his family's style, you're more than welcome to learn new styles to, Naruto-kun. In fact, I would encourage you," responds sensei. Before I can muster up a response that Sasuke could learn jutsu that doesn't turn you into cinders, he cuts me off, "Okay, let me break down the reason why I don't want anyone flinging ninjutsu and genjutsu at each other. Okay?"

Nodding my head, I wait with arms folded impatiently.

"Now, I imagine Asuma has taught you the _Shikaku Gotta_, right?" sensei asks me.

I nod, surprised that he would know about that.

"Don't be so surprised, it's the building block for more advanced genjutsu later on," responds sensei at what must have been an inquisitive expression before continuing, "Anyways, the reason why I don't want anyone using ninjutsu or genjutsu is because either party may get really hurt. Think about it this way, you two are flinging kunai at each other, then all of a sudden, you toss a genjutsu at Sasuke and it distorts his vision to be slightly off target; well what if he ends up launching a kunai at a vital area and actually hits you? That would be terrible. Same for what would happen if one of Sasuke's fire jutsu actually lands a hit; burns take a while to heal and are troublesome to train with."

Scowling, I try to argue back that we're not being fully able to practice, before he cuts me off again, "Eventually, this team will be ready for that level of sparring where everything is allowed, but not yet. Now, you are not yet bled gennin. You're still going through basic training to prepare you for that level; as I have so far seen, none of you are ready for that level yet," sensei pointedly looks at Sasuke, "None of you."

Well, at least he's not singling any of us out.

Sighing, I acknowledge his point and go off to the side while Sakura spars with sensei.

I hope the clones that I made at the apartment are reading well.

A/N: So there you have it folks, the conclusion to Naruto's disturbing dream. I hope I wrote the dream sequence and this chapter well. I have also edited the 8th chapter to have a description of the _Shikaku_ _Gotta_ and will have such a description for every new technique encountered in the story.

I know this is a short chapter, but I will be making a longer chapter later this or next week and wanted something to conclude the dream sequence before then.

Please review and tell me how I'm doing with this fic.

LordOwl


	11. Chapter 11: Days of Discoveries (1)

Chapter 11: Days of Discoveries and Training (1)

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I came back to my apartment after the disappointing sparring session with Teme. Stupid rules, I know I can dodge Sasuke's jutsu. I would have totally dominated the match if I could use genjutsu. Sighing, I unlocked the dull blue front door and went inside to see how my clones were doing.

They were still at the same places as before. Some that were gathered at the kitchen table turned around from their chairs to glance at what caused the door to open, but just waved at me before going back to their texts. On the other side of the living room lay 4 clones nap-"Oi! Lazy clones! What are you doing resting in that corner?!"

The clones instantly jumped up into the air in fright and were ready to chuck something at me before they realized who it was that awakened them.

"Oh, it's you, boss. We all have headaches from practicing the genjutsu on each other. We're still seeing messed up colors everywhere."

Seeing that I calmed down a bit, they continued, "How was training, boss? Put teme in his place?" They collectively smirked in anticipation for what should have been a beat-down.

I sighed and responded. No doubt, the clones could imagine nothing good happened from my slump. Before they could ask again, I told them about the ban on techniques even though Sasuke could still use that darn taijutsu style of his.

As all clones had heard me and were the same person, we all growled in a group chorus. With mutters of 'Stupid teme' and 'stupid sensei,' I gestured for them to slowly voluntarily dispel one by one. Last night, Asuma-sensei had told me that kage bushin could report acquired information back to the creator and had suggested that I use my abilities to learn at a faster pace; though he had severely warned me to use no more than 8 clones at once and to slowly dispel them over hours at a time. Clasping my head in a firm grip with both my hands, I could definitely understand why. My head was pulsing with fast hard thumps, like someone was jumping up and down on my brain from inside. That was all just from one dispelling too!

I shuddered at what would happen if I dispelled all of them at once. But why didn't this affect me in the forest after the fight with Mizuki-teme? I added that to my list of questions to ask Asuma-sensei next time I see him tomorrow. He had ordered a break for tonight, so I would be staying at home to practice and go over what I- or more like my clones- learned today. With such a rush of information still being organized by my brain, I know I'll have a long evening ahead of me.

Still, as bits of what the genjutsu-practicing clone had experienced started seeping into my consciousness, I realized that they really were hard at work trying to master my first genjutsu; and even trying to figure out how to adjust what pats of the vision would be affected with different focuses on each handsign!

Ruefully, I gave my apologies to the genjutsu-clones for underestimating them. Their smug grins, however, turned into worried frowns when I gestured for more time to the next clone that was about to dispel. My headache had not faded away and the flow of memories was just beginning to slow. No way could I afford to take in more memories. I shudder at what would happen if I turn into a vegetable from 'data overload,' as Asuma-sensei put it.

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'Oh that's interesting,' I thought to myself as I process another clone's memories. This clone spent the day reading a scroll on brain anatomy. While I realized that I had a lot to learn about the brain in order to be a successful genjutsu user, I had no idea there were so many functions that was carried in the brain. Processing time? Reflexes? Smell? There's so many possible ways to fool the brain! I just need to find how to turn the chakra into something that targets those points.

"Hmm, I guess that's the hard part, huh?" I asked a nearby clone lounging in one of the chairs. I had stopped my clones from studying as having them study more would just make a longer delay between each dispel; and I intended to sleep early tonight. I know I'm going to have a headache tomorrow morning once I try to remember everything that I 'learned' today. Instead, I asked them all to meditate on what they learned in hopes that it would make the memories more structures for easier organization.

The clone snorted, "You're telling me. I spent three hours trying to figure out just how one set of handsigns in one order cause one genjutsu to happen while the same set of signs in a different order cause a totally different genjutsu. It looks like we'll have to do a lot of experimentation," the clone replied as he looked around the room, "Guess it's a good thing we can make so many guinea pigs, huh?" He grinned at me. I matched his grin as I thought of how useful the kage bushin was in learning a genjutsu's effects.

Another thing I noticed while chatting with clones about the newly acquired memories was that it helped me understand just what my brain was being bombarded with. I noticed that even though I was getting information at a rapid pace, some of it would quickly be forgotten as I skipped to the next bit of memory. Because of this, I slowed down the rate of dispels to avoid wasting my clones' training time. No point in training if it's just going to be forgotten, after all.

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It was nighttime and almost time for bed when I finally dispelled the last clone. Rubbing my thoroughly abused head, I slowly added more notes to the scroll that I laid out in front of me to summarize the most important points that I learned from my clones. I started the scroll once I was past the fifth dispel and that I would have too much information in my head to remember every bit. So, I tried to write down what I remembered from the first dispels until I was caught up with my next dispels and the last. Wearily glancing through the summary, I gave up any further attempts to understand once the words started to blur and even taunt me.

I looked around the room to clear my head and saw that I still had a few ramen cups left from when the clones ate them in their hunger. I guess clones still feel hunger? Huh. Clones. Eating real food.

Oh crap.

Quickly getting out of my chair, I scanned the room with my eyes for what I feared. It was with great relief that I did not see hours old ramen lying around the apartment when my clones dispelled. The relief was fleeting for I then had another question. What happened to the real ramen after the clones dispelled? Clones weren't real, so how could they eat real food? Scratching my head, I absentmindedly scribbled the question down on the scroll of questions for both Asuma-sensei and Kakashi-sensei. At this point, the scroll was decently long; it was longer than some of my homework essays, actually. Not that surprising considering this was far more interesting, but still something to be noted.

Shrugging, I poured some water into my old water boiler for a bed-time snack. With all the thinking I did today, I felt surprisingly hungry. I thought about that hunger…and promptly poured some more water into the small burdened boiler. Pour thing has been through a lot of pours. I fondly patted the pale white device. It was a gift from Oyaji when he saw how much I loved ramen, even instant ramen. That was 4 years ago, and I have not spared it a single day's rest. I hugged it close to me.

"Oh water boiler, you're the only friend I need," I giggled as I murmured sweet nothings into the hole where precious hot water would come out. At last, after a long while, the boiler let loose bubbling sounds and then a satisfying click as the heat switch automatically shut off to signal the water was now ready to give life to my ramen.

Gratefully, I patted the top of the boiler to pour water into my cups of noodles. It would just be two cups tonight, but I'm going to save some hot water for tomorrow morning. No sense in wasting the precious life fluid.

Clapping my hands in a prayer of thanks, I dug into the first carton. It was a pleasure to short to enjoy and I found myself ravenously reaching out to the second one. With measured patience, I tried to slow down to savor this heavenly treat. Truly, this cup should be treated with more respect; it had just been reborn into food and I will treasure it.

Again, that cup was drained and its empty husk tossed back into a stack of old cartons that I would no doubt have to take out by the end of the week. Ramen smells heavenly, but old cartons still smell like trash. I felt my nose involuntarily wrinkle in anticipation of throwing the stuff out. Thankfully, it will be a while before the stink really hits the apartment, so I had plenty of time.

I climbed into bed and turned off the lights, letting my eyes adjust to the sudden darkness; my only light source a window that let in some of the moonlight that showed down on the village.

I happily yawned as I tried to remember all that I learned today. Today was a big step into learning genjutsu. With more of these days, I know I will bring my dreams out into reality soon.

Smiling, my thoughts slowed and darkness started overtaking the memories.

Gradually, I knew no more and slept.

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A/N: Read and review 'tebayo! I need feedback!

LordOwl


	12. Chapter 12: Test

Chapter 12: Test

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I wake up the next morning revitalized. I didn't have a dream, but for some reason, I feel really good. I look to my left and saw that my alarm clock had not yet rung yet. Huh. That's a first.

Shrugging, I reset the alarm so it wouldn't activate and grab my covers off me to the side. I shiver as a burst of cold air assault my legs. Man, why is it so cold in the morning? It's supposed to be summer right?

I quietly sweep my legs over the edge of the bed and stand up, stretching and enjoying the feeling of my body waking up. I slip on my slippers and pad across the undoubtedly cold tile to the bathroom to begin the day. There's a lot more to be done today. 'Though yesterday was a good day,' I fondly remember all that I learned the prior evening.

'Who knew kage bushin could be so useful?'

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Exiting the apartment, I gather up the chakra for 4 bushin and brief them on their respective duties for today. After cleaning up a bit, they would split the tasks of continuing their readings on chakra control and genjtusu and experimenting with the Shikaku Gotta genjutsu. Hopefully, I would be able to learn another one today with Asuma-sensei.

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I hurriedly walk over to the meeting area to see the others, save Kakashi-sensei, waiting there. As usual, the others barely responded to my greeting. 'So grumpy in the morning; you'd think that they would be used to it by now,' I mentally murmur.

Relaxing against the grain of the wooden bridge, I appreciatively feel the sun begin to rise and warm my still-cold body. 'Thank goodness it'll be warmer today.' Adrenaline started to flow through my veins as I started thinking about what I could be finding out tonight after absorbing the kage bushin. I'm giddy with glee!

In just a few more minutes, Kakashi-sensei appear near us in a flow of leaves and beckon us to follow him to the Hokage's tower. Oh? We're going to have a mission now?

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As we enter the building, we see fellow shinobi passing through the main lobby. It's always amazing to see so many different people- the only thing marking each a Konoha-nin being the headband; and even that was worn differently from person to person. I swerved out of the way of a chunnin who flashes me a grateful grin as he rushed past. Unlike the villagers, at least more of the shinobi like me. I guess what Asuma-sensei was saying was right after all? Or maybe that one just didn't know who I was.

Puzzling over the questions, I follow my team to the mission room where people were still streaming in and out of. The room was right next to the mission report room where there were a number of shinobi stationed to hear and read the reports from the village's regular missions, with the most important missions going straight up to Jiji.

We approach the desk, and to my surprise and delight, see Iruka-sensei handing out the forms while whispering to each recipient the details of the mission. I suppose that's why there's a bit of a enforced gap between the distributor and the line; even some shinobi would be hard pressed to hear from that distance. Though Iruka-sensei wasn't too far from us, so maybe there's something going on with his station? Some sort of muting genjutsu? Oooh! I need to get him to teach me that!

After waiting a couple minutes, we were at the front and we greet each other.

"Iruka-sensei!" I called out, "What are we doing today?" I narrow my eyes to show my seriousness, "It better not be another damn cat catching!"

All of a sudden, I feel a pain collide against the back of my head. Ruefully rubbing it, I glance behind me to see the bemused look of Kakashi-sensei…and Sakura-chan glaring at me. 'Ach!' I mentally blanch, 'it must be Sakura-chan's time of the month!'

Wisely keeping my mouth shut with a wary smile (I have read in my research magazines that girls get really angry when they're asked about their periods), I whined in a low voice to appease her, "Sorry Sakura-chan!"

Turning back to a smiling Iruka-sensei, I clap my hands together and bow, "Iruka-sensei! Please give us a good mission!"

For a moment, there was silence. Then I received a grunt and lifted my head to see a frowning Iruka looking at a scroll in his hands. Oooh! I bet it's a good one! My humbleness has impressed his generosity!

As if weighing a decision in his mind, Iruka-sensei softly lets out a sigh and gives it to Kakashi-sensei, before beckoning him closer. With a cocked eyebrow, Kakashi leaned his ear close to Iruka-sensei to hear his whispers. After a couple seconds, both of them stepped back, though there was something odd about Kakashi's stance. Nodding at Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei gestures for us to leave and I hurry to catch up to him as we left, tossing a grateful 'thanks!' over my shoulder to Iruka-sensei.

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"Neh, neh, sensei," I continue to pester Kakashi-sensei, "what's the mission? Come on, we're all dying to know 'tebayo!"

I wasn't lying. Even Sasuke was showing big signs of interest if his agitated tapping was any sign. Instead of answering, however, sensei just kept walking through the village like he hadn't a care in the world. So annoying.

Finally, we saw the gates and sensei stopped to show his scroll to the chunin guards. I would usually use this opening to peek, but it looked like sensei was expecting this since next thing I knew as I leapt over his shoulder was a resounding clap against the back of my head. I heard a paired grunt come down with me too.

Wincing as I rub my head, I look over to where the grunt came from- well I'll be darned, Sasuke leapt up with me too! Somehow, knowing he failed with me made me grin despite still not getting details on the mission.

Glaring over at sensei, I see him finish whispering into the ear of the now-smiling guards before reclining his droopy eye back towards us, "Oi, oi. Now's not the time to be resting guys. We have a mission to complete."

Despite grumbling at his obvious nonchalance, we follow him out of the gates and curse as he starts running through the main road into the off roads.

After a while, sensei motioned us to bunch up together off the side of the road and started unrolling the scroll on the ground.

"Okay, now that we're a short distance away, it's time to discuss the mission," announces sensei in a low tone.

Oh? He's serious. This should be good.

"Today, we are going to get you…blooded."

'Blooded?'

At seeing confused looks, sensei continues, "this mission will get you to finally experience one of the most important parts of being a shinobi- being able to take a life and deal with taking a life."

I felt myself jolting up with a shocked Sakura, "Bu-but sensei!" weakly protests Sakura.

"What is the mission?" Sasuke's voice broke through our stupor. How can he be so calm?! We're about to go kill someone!

Sensei looked at each of us individually before continuing, "Our mission is simple. You all will be scouting out a small group of bandits that have been heard attacking travelers on an off road nearby. I will supervise, but you three are pretty much on your own."

Sensei nodded at us and asked who would be leading the mission. Instantly, Sasuke took the scroll from Kakashi-sensei's open hand, "I will. It'll be good to see how far I've come."

I couldn't even muster the energy to protest. My knees were wobbly and I was amazed that I had not yet fallen over. Gazing at my right, I saw that Sakura-chan wasn't in much better condition. She still seemed conflicted over this. I looked back at sensei and saw him eying the both of us.

"You two don't have to do this, but you need to be able to take a life if you want to continue to serve the village," said sensei, "I know it won't be easy. It's not supposed to be. But at some point in your career, you will have to kill to protect whatever and whoever is dear to you; be it a teammate or your home, some enemies won't be stopped unless killed."

After a pause, sensei advised, "It has been decided by the Konoha council that new gennin squads be sent on missions similar to this in order to prevent them from freezing up in an unplanned situation where you will be taking a life. Freezing up on the battlefield will get you killed. This planned ambush on a low-level enemy gives you the best resources to cope with your first kills. Give yourselves lots of leeway in planning this one."

With a wave, sensei used shunshin to move out of the area.

"Okay, dobe, Sakura, we will be striking in a few hours. They are just a mile and a half out from here." Shocked again by his sudden voice, I swivel my head to see him laying down the mission scroll to see a map in the middle of the open paper. Gulping, I kneel next to him to examine the mission further, with a reluctant Sakura-chan following shortly.

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It was evening by the time we neared the camp past our previously occupied observation spots. After observing the bandits' patrols, we decided to take down the outermost patrols before spreading confusion with some henged clones and going in to take down the bandits. Sasuke-teme wanted to go alone to one half of the camp while Sakura and I would take the other half. Smug bastard.

Trying to focus on my anger, I neared one of the patrolling bandits with Sakura-chan next to me. In the end, we decided to split the camp into thirds with Teme in one third and Sakura-chan and I in another while we would meet up in the last third where we spotted the leader. For now, Sasuke was on the way to taking out his assigned patrols while Sakura and I would be taking down our area's patrols. This would prevent the patrols from coming up behind us as we started…to kill.

Taking a deep breath, I nod what I hope to be a confident smile at Sakura-chan only to see her staring depressingly at me. I feel my hand clench tighter against my kunai. Damn it. She shouldn't have to dirty her hands like this.

She shouldn't.

Realization dawns on me and I nearly smack myself for being so preoccupied with my own reluctance. 'Stupid! She doesn't have to do this at all! I can do it all for her. Am I not Naruto, the one who took down a chunnin with hundreds of kage bushin?!'

Coming up next to her, I tell Sakura, "Sakura-chan, you know…you don't have to do this. In fact, I can do it all for you! You shouldn't have to dirty your hands like this. "

Hearing this, her head yanks back as her eyes open wide in surprise. Time slows as I await her response. Countless emotions are fluttering across her face; they're too fast for me to see what is going on inside her head. I should have read up more on emotions from that psychology manual darn it!

After some tense time passes, I see her teary-eyed face smile as she bows her head and sinks to her knees in relief. "T-thank you…Naruto." Yes! I will stop these bandits from corrupting her, and then I'll go up to the council and demand them to stop these missions. People shouldn't be forced to kill like this!

Nodding my head at her with a happy grunt, I walk towards the paired bandits, my heart filling up with a fierce emotion. I ready my kunai and feel the hard ribbed grip under my hand. I take a deep breath as I aim at one standing over a sitting bandit. 'This is it, Naruto. You can do this. After this…you can talk to Jiji and see about pulling these missions.'

Nodding, I draw my hand back…and whip it towards the bandit's head, the force snaps my elbow straight and I start running towards them. By the time the kunai hits the bandit- I'm on target!- I ready up my hands for kage-bushin and have them pile onto the sitting bandit, covering his mouth as he gives a cut-off yelp in surprise.

Another clone punches the bandit to the side of the head and I see the bandit lull in unconsciousness. 'Don't think about this.' I see the bandit has stopped struggling.

'Maybe I can just leave him tied here and he won't have to be harmed?'

'No. He might get back up and hurt Sakura-chan!'

The clones look questioningly up at me, waiting for me to confirm the kill. They're just as reluctant as me. 'Don't think about this. Just do it.'

Nodding my head furiously, I feel my face tighten as one clone reaches behind his back to pull out a kunai. Time slows again. I see the kunai go up.

And like a blur, it rushes down, penetrating the bandit in the chest. There's no spurt of blood. No mess splatter. Something just starts staining the front of the shirt. I keep the clones activated, I'll probably need them in the upcoming raid. I get close to the clones as they fan out protectively.

'I am not afraid.'

The clones nod at me and I nod back. 'It is time to get the show started,' I grimly think to myself.

Activating more clones, I give the order to raid the unsuspecting camp.

I hear shouts in the distance and can already tell Sasuke's already busy. He's always so good at being a shinobi. 'Damn it! I'm going to be a good shinobi too!'

With a battle cry, I rush forwards with my clones making a similar cry. I ignore any hint that there may be something else underneath that cry.

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A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to update. I've been more active lately since I've started to coach as well as work my regular job. It's left me quite tired and busy. Anyways, I hope you all liked this. Some may be able to tell that I drew some inspiration from lord of the land of fire's 'The Shinobi Test.' It's a great fic and portrays a realistic test for newly minted gennin teams. I wish he would continue that storyline more; or if someone could pick it up for him.

Please review,

LordOwl


	13. Chapter 13: A Shinobi's Test (1)

Chapter 13: A Shinobi's Test (1)

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I am going to be great

I am going to take this challenge and complete it.

My first real mission is here.

I cannot fail

I will become a shinobi!

I slashed through the enemies while they were still caught surprised. I was a wave of destruction and their bodies were rocks tossed through the waves of my onslaught. My clones made short work of any that I left alive. I spearheaded them, shouting myself hoarse with orders to distract enemies while other clones went in for the kill. Nothing stopped me. Nothing will stop me. I am Naruto, future Hokage. If a Hokage needs to be capable of killing, then I will be the best there is.

I feel the blood pumping through my veins. The enemies' cries resound through my skull as I plunge my dirty kunai again and again into the next person in front of me, making sure they are dead before advancing. One of my clones suffered a hit from behind because they weren't careful. I will not make the same mistake.

A Hokage cannot afford to make mistakes.

Letting my clones rush forward to protect me from harm, I finally take the time to launch myself up a clone's waiting arms to look at the battlefield around me.

What I see almost shocks me from my frenzy. There is…just so much blood.

I spin around and I see a field of blood rush through my vision. I land in the waiting arms of my clone.

But there is still much left. And we haven't even reached the enemy commander yet. Sensei did say there should be a leader somewhere. It's only right that one leader should fight another! I need to beat Sasuke to him! I will be Hokage!

Breathing deeply, I focus out the battle sounds around me, trusting my escort to protect me from harm. I prepare the same jutsu that haunted my nightmares- the Hell Viewing Jutsu. The very same that turned the bullying villagers to mush. I pause- will I be just as bad as the person in my nightmare?! These people can't defend themselves from it- it wouldn't be fair…

NO!

I cannot be soft! Scrunching my eyebrows in renewed concentration, I focus on the feeling of fear that I want to channel into the enemies. Forming seals with my hands, I settle on the rat seal and focus my chakra into a tight ball inside me. Once I feel enough build up in me, I release my hands out in front of me, as if pushing someone, and release the pent up energy as well.

A moment's pause. Is this delay part of the illusion?

I suddenly hear screams of terror and a rush of relief goes through me. It worked!

I give myself a smile and signal the rest of my clones to finish the job. They flow faster through the now incapacitated enemies. I continue jogging through the battlefield to scout out the enemy commander. He should have no doubt started fighting already. But where is he?

A popped clone nearby transfers memories of a sharp blade piercing through his stomach. The lasting vision of someone in a bronze visor appears to me just before the real thing comes across my vision. I dodge a fast lunge and spin in a backhand with my kunai. I hit nothing but air and pedal backwards not a moment too soon as I feel the wind of a slash where my previous arm was occupied.

This guy is good. A surge of excitement shudders through me. This is the commander!

Grinning, I call up more clones to attack. The commander isn't surprised, but gracefully dodges through my clones and pops them all with quick slashes from his katana. This guy is really good!

A thought pops in my head. Aha! But what if I send a genjutsu to him? He shouldn't be able to resist. Grunting in excitement, I prepare my hands for a Vision Scrambler only to dodge a barely avoided thrust. Damn this bastard is fast!

Cursing, I create more clones as I feel the fighting around me settle down. Once again I try; and once more, I fail because of a quick attack from the enemy. How is he keeping up with my movements?! No way a regular person is this fast.

Growling, I focus through the Hell Viewing jutsu. To hell with it, once I hit this guy with it, he should be easy tamago! I take a glance from his third interrupting strike and power through the pain to send a burst of chakra to him as I release the snake seal. He pauses and I rejoice!

Sucker, now I got you.

I rush at him with a new kunai raised in my other hand. I toss the dirtier one in my right hand and carve a gash near his cheek with no resistance. I got him now! I leap forwards with a howl of triumph. My eyes focus on his neck.

Suddenly, I see a movement out of the corner of my eye. A flash and I bring my kunai up to block. A flash of something flutters through my body. As my feet touch the ground in an aborted leap, I rocket back to the safety of my clones. I crouch low and feel a sudden rush of pain across my chest and choke off a scream in my throat.

It hurts so much. What happened? One moment, I see him in my illusion, the next, he's moving. Did it fail? Was he actually immune and it didn't work from the start?

Growling, I try to stand, but the pain keeps me crouched forwards. How deep is it? We stare each other down in the pause of the battlefield, the fighting has settled to almost quiet levels. As sudden as the sword strike was, a black shadow leaps across the battlefield and flashing iron daggers are parried by the swordsman. The follow up kicks are similarly blocked and the black figure leaps off the enemy to several feet behind him.

The figure rapidly moves his arms and launches a ball of fire at the swordsman. It's Sasuke!

He's different. There is blood all over his clothes and he has a twisted grin on his face. It scares me, though I will never admit that to him. I muster up my anger, use it to overcome the pain in my chest and fear.

"Oi teme! This one's mine! You hear me?!"

Ending his fire jutsu in favor of not being skewered, Sasuke bitingly replies without so much as a glance at me, "give up dobe, this guy's too strong for you. Stick to your little illusions on the minions. I'll take on the big fish."

AH! He's so irritating!

I start to run forwards when I am stopped in my tracks by a hand weakly gripping my shoulder. I turn to see Sakura-chan staring at me in worry.

"Na-Naruto, stay out of the fight. You're-you're badl-badly hurt now," she quivers as she stares at my chest.

I angrily shrug off her hand, "No! I can still fight Sakura-chan! Leave this to me, you just back up teme!" I grin fiercely at her. No way will I lose with her cheering at my side!

My cheer doesn't disarm her; if anything, her grip tightens desperately. What's the matter with her?

"Pl-please Naruto. There's so many dead already," she whispers. I then realize that her eyes have dulled. Worried, I look at her in her entirety- her dress has splotches of blood. Was she fighting too?! Is she injured?

"Sakura-chan!" I call out. Her eyes refocus on mine, "are you hurt?!"

Shakingly, she negatively shakes her head and I feel the tension leave my shoulders. Phew, I don't know what I would have done if she was hurt when I was doing my best to protect her. But that means-

I hear a loud clang and sharply turn my head back to the fight that I just ignored. Sasuke-teme seems to be gaining on the swordsman. As the swordsman overreaches, Sasuke jams a kunai into his elbow. The swordsman grunts in pain and moves to retreat, but his actions have cost him and Sasuke follows up with several more slashes down his body before retreating himself. The swordsman only has time to stand in defiance as Teme finishes up his favorite jutsu and breathes a fireball at him. There is no dodge this time.

I clench my teeth and grip my hands tightly. That-that BASTARD!

I had him!

I hear a swirl of leaves and sharply turn to glare at what is coming next.

Kakashi-sensei has just arrived.

* * *

A/N: Hope this was a good chapter. Sorry I haven't been able to update recently. I'm going to update at least once every two weeks, but am also working on other projects. If anyone's noticed, I've been experimenting with narration styles; this one involves not using quotation marks when Naruto thinks to himself to give more elaboration on his internal thoughts. There's also a lack of breaks as this is a quick chapter on a continuous sequence of events. Hope this came through clear. If there's anything to improve, please let me know.

Until next chapter,

LordOwl


	14. Chapter 14: Debriefing Reality (I)

Chapter 14: Debriefing Reality (I)

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Kakashi-sensei had arrived.

Swinging my glare back at a now-smirking Teme, I yelled out, "OI! Teme! That was mine!"

Scoffing, he walked towards sensei without glancing back, "Don't be dense dobe, you were almost split open before I saved you. Even against such a low level opponent…" Sasuke twisted his head to glance from the sides of his eyes at me, "he should have been honored to die by my sharingan." With an emphasis on 'sharingan,' I heard Sakura-chan gasp behind me. What?

What was 'sharingan'?

"Oh? Congratulations, Sasuke, but you know…" Sensei's voice resound through the field before he disappeared and reappeared right behind teme, "Just because you unlocked those eyes means that you are better than everyone else," concluded sensei as he glared down at a speechless teme. Hah, eat that!

Urgh!

I cried out as my belly started hurting even more. God, it stings!

"Naruto!" shouted Sakura-chan in alarm as she rushed to my side. Aw, she's worried about me!

I felt sensei come towards us as well.

"Naruto-kun," sensei warned, "don't make the tear worse, lie down and let me see it."

Struggling to lie down, I sat myself down first and tried releasing the vice I had my belly in between my arms. The blinding pain erupted worse than before!

Searing pain tore through me as I tried to tighten my arms back to the wound. Why does it hurt so much?!

My arms would not move towards my stomach, however, as I found sensei's arms holding them back. I screwed my eyes shut against the pain. 'Trust in sensei,' I told myself.

"Okay, Sakura-chan," started sensei, "Sakura? Sakura!"

"H-hai sensei?" Sakura-chan's worried voice was heard.

"Hold his right arm down, Sasuke, hold his left. I am going to heal him," commanded sensei. There was no hesitation as I felt both my arms touching the ground, though strangely enough, my right was held tighter. Who knew Sakura has so much strength, hm?

I must have been getting dizzy, because I started wondering what hugging her would be like rather than think back on how injured I was. Am I dying? I can't be dying, I still need to be Hokage!

I heard the fabric of my jacket being sheared away.

Sensei gently spoke, "Okay, Naruto-kun, listen to my voice." This must have been the first time I ever heard him so gentle.

Smack.

Uah! That hurts!

"Kakashi-sensei! Why did you slap him?" protested Sakura-chan! I felt a tighter grip on my left arm that was greatly surpassed by the vice my right became entwined in.

"Maa…he was zoning out, that's dangerous in the battlefield; keep in mind where we are and that there still may be survivors or reinforcements arriving. We need to hurry, and Naruto-kun needs to have something to distract him from the stomach," his voice turned giddy, "So now I'll be destroying your orange jacket now!"

WHAT?!

I started struggling despite the newly sensed pain! No way is he going to destroy my jacket! It was a gift from jiji! My left arm almost broke free before it was restrained with two hands.

"Maa, that's why I told you to hold him down, Sasuke-chan," teased sensei.

"So, I am going to show you guys a medical jutsu now. This should help with the torn skin and help it clot," I opened my eyes to see the last bits of him forming hand signs before bringing his palms close together. Slowly, a green aura formed around his hands.

"Mystical Palms Shōsen Jutsu successful," murmured sensei as he pressed his palms to my stomach.

I felt a warm feeling spread around my belly as he kept his hands focused on my wound. It was…soothing?

What a weird feeling.

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After several minutes, I felt a lot better. What a kick-ass jutsu! Even teme and Sakura-chan were amazed.

"And that, my students, is how you heal a teammate. Neat huh?" mused sensei as he stopped hanging over me.

"Sensei…that was amazing, it looks perfectly smooth now!" exclaimed Sakura-chan.

Wha-no way! I rose up and looked at my stomach in shock. It was gone! It was smooth again!

"Wuah, amazing sensei! You saved my life!" I jumped up from my slackened vices and started jumping up and down in excitement. Once I settled down, a sudden throbbing in my stomach made me crouch over again in pain.

"Well, that I may have; healed you completely, I have not," mused sensei as he smiled at my sudden glare.

Well…sensei's still sensei, I guess.

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We sat in the middle on a small clearing near the center of the bandit camp as sensei gave us his evaluations.

"Well, where to begin…I suppose I'll start with Sasuke-kun," murmured sensei aloud.

Sasuke puffed up with pride- that bastard.

"You were certainly capable of killing bandits. I believe it was when a group of them started organizing themselves in a charge against you that you actually activated your Sharingan." There's that word again, what is 'sharingan'?

"Uh, sensei? What is sharingan?"

Sensei looked towards me in slight disbelief, "Well, you should have already covered that in class. It is a bloodline limit that focuses on an ocular difference in its users. A fully developed eye and skilled user will allow a person to become immune to genjutsu, able to copy taijutsu and ninjutsu and better sense chakra usage."

Wha-What! This sounds ridiculous! Sasuke suddenly has an ability that makes all that I've learned moot?! That's crap!

"Oi, oi Naruto-kun, there's no need to be like that. It is still possible to fool someone with active Sharingan," cautioned sensei. Eh? There is? Hah! I knew there must have been some weakness!

Seeing that he had the group's attention again, despite Sakura's protests at what he just said, Kakashi-sensei continued, "You could theoretically still use genjutsu that targets other senses to mess with the person; just because you can see chakra doesn't mean that you're impervious to the effects…you don't even need chakra to cause some of the other senses to fail."

"In fact, you could destroy the ear drums with a high enough frequency and the user would be rendered imbalanced, easy pickings for any skilled shinobi."

As we pondered this, sensei brought out attention back to the matter at hand, "well, let's get back to the matter at hand."

"Aside from when you cornered yourself into territory familiar to your enemy, mistake one, you thought that your fire jutsu would be enough to stop all of them in their tracks, so you thought to eliminate tons of them in one go. That's a good attempt at conserving chakra, but dangerous since people have been known to push themselves past that level of debilitating injury; that risk rises with more people coming at you. You were lucky to have your eyes activated at that time or you would be skewered," admonished sensei.

Seeing that Sasuke looked down in anger, sensei lightened up, "However, you did make good use of wires and other obstructions to pin down the leader and light him up, so keep improving; just don't ignore your teammates in favor of taking all the glory for yourself," his words turned serious again, "or you will find not only yourself dead, but your team too; then what would the village be? Without three talented shinobi instead of just one."

Continuing to Sakura-chan, sensei started, "You were able to provide back up to Naruto despite your shock at having to deal with your first kills. You were able to keep your emotions under control like a good shinobi," sensei laid a hand reassuringly on her shoulder, "you handled yourself well, Sakura. Be proud. Let your team help you through this troubling period too. You are not alone."

Tearing up, Sakura-chan bowed her head as more tears escaped her wiping hands.

Sakura…did I fail to help you?

My thoughts became distracted when sensei finally turned his head to look at me.

"And now for Naruto-kun…"

Aw crap, that doesn't sound good.

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A/N: Poor Naruto. He gonna get it.


	15. Chapter 15: Debriefing Reality (II)

15: Debriefing Reality (II)

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"Eh? What about me sensei?" I suddenly become quiet.

Listening to Sasuke get broken down was eye-opening, but what would Kakashi-sensei say to me? I know there were some things that I could have done differently. My still-tender stomach agrees with me.

"Well," drawled sensei as he seemed to think over his words, "You're over-reliant on your kage bushin. The only reason they worked so well," he speaks louder as he sees I'm about to protest, "Is because you were able to make so many of them at once and strike with surprise on your side."

"Against a higher level opponent or a shinobi, that strategy would have been a lot less effective. Save for possibly suiton jutsu, any of the medium-level variations of the elemental villages' starter offensive jutsu can dispose of your clones with ease. If not ninjutsu, a decent gennin could take down quite a few of your clones before being swamped, but ultimately, you want to be able to overcome 'just gennin,' so you need to work on your taijutsu before using more of your clones to make up for this handicap."

Urk! I'm wincing with every word he speaks. True, my taijutsu ain't that great, but I still beat up Mizuki-teme right?!

Though with a hundred clones at my side…

My head slinks down as I realize his truth.

"Uh, sensei? What do you mean starter offensive jutsu?" asked Sakura, interrupting sensei's analysis- something I find grateful for as I'm still reeling back from sensei's analysis…and he doesn't even look done yet!

"Hmm, well, now's a good time as any, I suppose," mused sensei, "I will go over them after the review, but starter jutsu, as the title suggests, are the most basic form of ninjutsu that every village teaches to its aspiring shinobi. All of the villages include the 'Big Three': Bushin no Jutsu, Kawarimi no Jutsu, and Henge no jutsu. However, the starter offensive jutsu is always elemental in nature to represent each village's strength as that is the most available resource for that area. For example, Mizugakure teaches a water jutsu because there is so much water; you won't be seeing much of that in Sunagakure, but Suna-nin are taught a wind-based jutsu to make use of their often great winds and mounds of loose sand."

"In any case, let me finish with Naruto-kun and then I'll show the development of our starter jutsu," finished Kakashi-sensei.

Ah, who knew he would know so much? Or be able to keep track of all of that?

"So there was the over-reliance with kage bushin, then there's also your performance against the leader. You defended yourself fairly well against him, and you did stick to a good strategy of using your specialty against him rather than brawling."

Yay! Praise me more sensei!

"Honestly, I was wondering if you were going to just charge in there and get yourself killed. I was moving myself to be ready in case you went over your head," sensei unabashedly continued.

Urk, it's like kunai in my back. What happened to 'good job, Naruto-kun?'

"You really almost had him once you cast the genjutsu, but your self-doubt was your undoing," sensei paused before wryly continuing, "Or your bad aim."

Huh? I didn't doubt myself, did I?

"When you threw a kunai at him, it scratched him a bit and the pain helped him break the genjutsu early. It didn't help that his will seemed to be stronger than other low-level opponents for him to break out and continue to act like he was still in a genjutsu. If you just nailed him in the head instead, you would have ended the fight there and then."

Eh? Oh! Right, pain brings people out of genjutsu huh?

How embarrassing…

"Well, I'll be happy to go over your first field test with Asuma, so no worries there," sensei gleefully smiled.

Too gleeful, I thought sourly.

"In any case, I want you guys to learn to work together. You won't always be capable of going solo, even if you thought that splitting up the enemy camp into uneven thirds counted as teamwork. Obviously, you three are capable or else you would not be here. Think of what you could do as a team if you three got teamwork perfected."

As silence met his words, sensei nodded at us, "I'll let you think on that for now. Let's grab a short break as we look around the camp before going back to starter jutsu. Remember to grab some water."

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Walking out of the gathering, I looked through the camp that previously held so many people. Now, I could only hear my team as they similarly searched the camp. No doubt, teme's counting how many he killed so he can feel even better about himself.

Bastard.

Still, the silence is sort of scary. There are no animal sounds in the distance like a normal piece of land in the forest would carry. Instead, there's just…

Silence.

My eyes sweep through the field to take in the still wet patches of grass dyed dull rusty red, almost brown where drier. How many of these people had their own lives that had meaning?

That had loved ones?

That had hope?

That had dreams?

That I…killed?

I crouch over the body of one such person that I probably killed on my way to the camp leader. I had been tracking my path to see if there was anything I missed. I might have felt better if I had not backtracked at all.

Still, I gaze blankly at the body under me. His head is still on and his face is untainted. There are no marks of battle, just closed eyes. He looks like he is just sleeping. There is no tensing near the closed eyes as I saw with other bodies. No grimace. Just a peaceful expression. I would even think he was sleeping during the attack, but the puncture wounds and slashes crossing his arms and torso make me doubt that he was just caught unprepared.

No. He accepted the end of his dreams before he died.

Would I be able to do the same?

Quickly standing up, I shake my head and march forwards to the edge of the camp. I'm not going to think about this. It doesn't matter, I will not die until my dream is accomplished. I will be Hokage. And then…

People will respect me.

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Sensei signaled for us to gather after a few more minutes of break. We gathered in silence, pent up energy from the post-battle rush depleted. We had done something today that would forever change us.

We had become Konoha-nin.

Seeing that he has our attention, Kakashi-sensei prepares to continue his previous talk.

"Alright, so as I explained earlier, there are starter jutsu for each village. I imagine the same is true for even the minor villages like Amegakure. This starter jutsu provides the basis for your development into more advanced ninjitsu."

"Watch carefully, I'm about to show Konohagakure's starter jutsu," sensei then gave a glare to Sasuke and followed with, "and no Sharingan, or you will always have a handicap in learning katon jutsu."

Baffled, Sasuke skeptically nodded before checking with the shiny blade of his kunai to make sure his eyes were off.

"Okay, first is the most basic of basic, _Hōnoō no Jutsu_ _[Flame jutsu]_," sensei spat out a small sized flame into the air next to us.

That's it?

"Not too impressive, true, but like learning taijutsu, you start out with the very basic before going further in. The basics build the more advanced maneuvers. You didn't start flying kicks in the academy before you got your first high kick down, and before even that, your first waist-level kick."

"Here's some of the more developed forms, each with a different path of development that can lead to more advanced jutsu," announced sensei, "Again, no sharingan, or I will pluck those eyes out for your own good, Sasuke."

I heard a swallow from Sasuke's direction. Satisfied, sensei started up rapid handseals before ending at tiger.

"_Gōkakyū no Jutsu [Great Fireball Technique]_!" A large ball of fire erupted from sensei's mouth to cover a patch of land across from us. It was a bigger version of the fire jutsu Sasuke used again Kakashi-sensei in the bell test! Even from where I stood, I could still feel its heat on my face.

Wait..

I looked at sensei's mask more carefully before realizing what was odd.

"Oi, sensei! How are you doing that with your mask up?!"

Snapped from their stunned silence, my teammates made similar sounds of surprise before asking the same.

"Ah," sensei, picked at his left ear nonchalantly, "That's a secret."

Slumping over in disappointment, we still heard him continue, "Well, I'll reward you for paying attention."

Our heads snapped up in hopes of seeing him without a mask. Aw, his mask was still on.

"To start with, for all fire jutsu, you typically gather chakra in your body and convert it into fire chakra to be breathed out. However, you don't necessarily have to ignite it in your mouth, you can ignite it outside as well, as I did just outside my mask. I am still releasing fire-natured chakra, but it's not ignited until it goes past my mask."

You put fire chakra in your body and ignite it for katon jutsu? That sounds dangerous. I could see one of my clones exploding in flames from using it wrong.

Shuddering, I tuned my ears back to sensei as he continued.

"That was the Gōkakyū technique, it's a simple amplification of the Hōnoō Technique to spit out a larger ball of flame; it can also be used to launch a continuous stream of flames, but keep in mind that your movement and vision is impaired while wielding it, not to mention your chakra control. Running around with that jutsu on forces you to split your attention between situational awareness and making sure your jutsu doesn't backfire on you."

I got the mental scene of a chibi-Kakashi-sensei running around with the flamethrower on before falling on his face and dispelling in a poof. Heheh, hilarious.

"Next," sensei continued, ignoring my chuckles as he weaved his hands through more seals, once again stopping at Tiger, "_Hōsenka no Jutsu [Phoenix Safe Flower Technique_]!"

Dozens of smaller fireballs launched out of sensei's mask to cover the same used clearing. So this one launches a lot of smaller balls at once?

"This path of development takes the Hōnoō Jutsu and multiplies it so it's easier to land a hit. You can also further this technique like other flame techniques by controlling the flames even after you've spat them out. They can curve in midair or even follow your opponent to distract them or hit them from odd angles. Another improvement is hiding weapons in the flames such as shuriken so the target is still hit even if they block the flames."

More seals?

"_Katon: Hōnoō Kabé no Jutsu [Fire Release: Flame Wall Technique]_!"

Sensei spat out a…line of fire?

The line of fire touched the grass and instantly lit it up into a high wall of flames.

Cool!

"This is the Hónoō Kabé no Jutsu. It forms a line of intense chakra that can then ignite the area into a wall of flames. Some can even master this to the degree that a small ball of fire chakra can ignite a 10 foot long wall."

Woah, so you could trick someone into thinking you were spitting a fireball at them and then cut them off? That's like…genjutsu! Tricking someone with something else!

"This jutsu gives you a nice barrier if you need to block something from entering. For more powerful attacks, however, you would need to maintain a constant barrier of fire rather than flames, but you can learn that later. Now, logically, if there is a wall to block one path…"

Sensei finishes another jutsu as he jumpes up in the air before calling out, "_Katon: Hibashirí no Jutsu [Fire Release: Running Fire Technique]"_

A small halo of flame appeared out of sensei's mouth and started to expand into a huge ring that landed in the area around us. I tensed as I saw the ring heading towards us. It was expanding fast enough that it wouldn't hit us though. Surely, sensei wouldn't hurt us right?

I'm not going to even answer that to myself. The air was already getting hot with the flames.

The circle crashed around us and ignited the land, though it was strange to not see it spreading further on the grass.

We turned to see the full circle around us in awe before turning back to see sensei land in front of us.

"The Hibashirí Jutsu takes the Hónoō Kabé into the path of a multi-directional containment jutsu that can be used to detain or restrict the movements of capture targets, or if you just want to fence a person in. If you still have control of the flames, you can choose to close or widen the ring or form the ring into an oval or square, though a circle is the easiest shape."

As he spoke, the flame circle widened and closed before lowering. I choked a bit as some of the smoke invaded my lungs before I relished the clean air that swept in, as if pushing out an errant invader. Nah, he's definitely not going to hurt us, just annoy us.

"You can also extinguish the fire if you have enough chakra control. Otherwise, make sure to place it wisely or you'll find yourself unable to reach the target or accidentally kill the target if the fire spreads too far inwards."

Seeing us choke a bit on the leftover smoke, he added, "The smoke can also be intense enough to kill even after it's dispelled. Another disadvantage with controlling fire jutsu; there will be less smoke with less power though."

"Let's see, where to show this one," sensei murmured before turning to the closest edge of camp.

"Next one," sensei formed another sequence of seals before taking a breath.

"_Katon: Karyū Endan [Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet]!_"

A large stream of fire erupted from sensei's mouthpiece to smash through the grassy field before disappearing, leaving a gash where it crossed and flames licking at its edges.

Woah! I want that jutsu!

"Ah, I see that one impressed you all. You gennin are so cute," cooed Kakashi-sensei to us, snapping us out of another bout of awed silence.

"Oi! Sensei! Teach me that-tebayo!" I eagerly asked. That jutsu is just too awesome to not learn. I bet the Hokage has plenty of jutsu like that.

"Maa, maa, when you're ready, I'll teach you all the jutsu you want. But not until you master all the previous stages first," explained sensei.

"But sensei," questioned Sasuke, surprising the rest of us. The bastard speaks!

"By the time we know the previous stages, we'll already know how to do similar stuff like that jutsu," pondered Sasuke.

Sensei just tapped the tip of his nose in a 'you got me' motion. Grr! That lazy bum! He doesn't want to teach us the jutsu at all!

Fuming, I heard his voice, "Well, these are all flashy jutsu that take up a lot of chakra. Course, the more chakra control you have, the better, but there are still better ways of completing your mission unless you're in open war."

There is?

"For example," sensei elaborated, "The Dragon Flame Bullet is good for high powered attacks, but it doesn't need to be that big or flashy. It could be like this…"

Sensei made the same handseals and brought his hands to his mouth before taking a deep breath.

"_Katon: Karyū Endan_!"

An orange-white flame burst from sensei's mouth and streamed an even darker line into the path of the previous Dragon Flame Bullet. I even felt an almost painful heat from where I stood away from sensei.

Why's it so much more powerful?

"That is a more developed version of the Karyū Endan Jutsu. Its flames are hotter and can burn longer, but it takes more control to refine to such a degree. It's also much thinner so you can see where you can control the bullet to go or see how your enemy reacts. So, it's the smaller things that you have to worry about, not the bigger things," sensei smiled at our dumbfounded expressions.

"In any case, these are some of the developments that you can take jutsu. The same idea applies for any fighting discipline, from taijutsu to genjutsu," sensei looked me in the eye upon mentioning the later.

Huh…so genjutsu can have multiple paths too?

AWESOME!

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A/N: Well, that wasn't so bad for Naruto right? I would like to think I made a somewhat impartial Kakashi here, and he certainly showcased part of the reason he's called master of a thousand techniques. I intended for this chapter to open Naruto up to the many possibilities of developing jutsu. With his creativity and spontaneity, he'll take to it like a fish to water…and perhaps become what Asuma feared would happen.

If there's any corrections or anyone who's willing to beta, please PM me.

Hope the extra length made up for the longer waiting period. Review!

It makes me happy.


	16. Chapter 16: An Illusion Cast and a Chall

A/N: Wow, got a lot more reviews for the previous chapter. I thought I would respond to some of the reviews in case anyone else has similar questions or thoughts:

troutman30: I thought the ability to get lost in one's own illusions would add an interesting perspective on the world of genjutsu. If ninjutsu and taijutsu can backfire on the user, why can't genjutsu? It's sort of like programming a game- the programmer must know what the other person is supposed to see in order to have that person see the game correctly, but the programmer must also visualize the game in order to truly see if everything is correct. The programmer may see code, but the vision is still there. Similarly, a genjutsu user will tweak the target's perceptions to fit the illusion, but the genjutsu user has a connection with what the target sees as he is doing the chakra manipulation. If he's not careful, the connection will bleed through to his side and he will start experiencing the illusion as well.

aboulhosncc: I really appreciate your review. It was detailed and opened my eyes to some of the weaknesses of the story. I plan to rewrite once this story's finished, or maybe rewrite the beginning parts so people don't get turned off when they start reading. Your point about the Sakura dream does make sense, but I can also see Naruto imagining the dream from what he is able to read throughout his childhood. If he craves a normal family, he will notice how some families behave in public and read up on this as well, causing the scenario I mentioned to be possible. The questions about the training concern me as that means I really do need to get on that rewrite asap. Thank you for bringing them to my attention. I think I would have waited much longer on the rewrite otherwise.

So, I will be taking some time to rewrite as I am posting chapters, but will still update. Stay tuned and enjoy this chapter. Also, still looking for a beta.

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16: An Illusion Cast and a Challenge Received

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Fwwwwoooooosssshhhh!

I hear the wind enter my ears and I drowsily open my eyes. I had such a good nap. I look around to see if I left a window open.

Trying to grab my blanket off, I end up yanking at what feels like…grass?

Why is there grass in my bed?

I sit up and look around with wide eyes. I'm at Asuma-sensei's training grounds? Did I fall asleep after a lesson with him?

Puzzled, I walk around the clearing to see if Asuma-sensei is nearby. I never fall asleep after practice with sensei this fast.

How weird. I take some time to gaze at the twinkling stars in the sky. There's no moon tonight so they're especially pretty.

I walk to one edge of the field and slowly make my way around the border for a few minutes before I think I hear a sound. Leaning back, I yelp as a kunai flies through the air and lightly cuts my face.

"Oi! Watch where you're tossing that you freaking moron!"

Silence greets me, before similar whistling sounds are heard.

"Oh shi-!"

I try to dodge as many as I can. The number gradually rises and I breathe a sigh of relief once it ends before I get turned into a kunai cushion. Hopefully, my new hiding place in the trees helps

"Okay, I gotta get out of here- tebayo," I mutter quietly to myself. The shock is still strong in my system and I still hear my blood pumping through my ears. I curse as it muffles any sound I can hear.

Alright, so the guy may have expected me to run away, but what if I slowly make my way to him? Will he still be there?

It may work. I create a kage bushin and have it run away from where the kunai where tossed as I slowly make my way through the grass. The trees are too loud.

Slowly, I crawl through the tall grass to see where the bastard could be.

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I finally spot him after what feels like hours of crawling in the dark. Thank goodness for the moon shining above him or I would have never seen him.

I get into a jumping position and leap at him!

"I'm gonna beat you a new face-tebayo!" I shout at him.

He turns around and almost disappears as I feel a force slam into my chest, knocking the breathe out of me.

"Agh!" I try to kick away and am finally awarded with a masculine 'oomph' sound as I escape his grasp.

I stand across from him as we both recover. The guy looks like a shadow; how the hell did I spot him? He's in all-black tight clothing and the only thing that stands out is his red eyes. They're very red.

So…entrancingly red…

What was I doing?

I shake my head and barely duck under a swipe passing through where my head previously occupied and spring away, making kage bushin to occupy him.

A genjutsu user?!

I have to be careful. I carefully ready some kunai and have my clones dash at him. Everything feels hazy and my vision starts to blur. Suddenly, fire springs from all around me and I barely manage a scream as they close in.

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"YAAAAHHHHH!"

I find myself curled into a ball as I once again feel cool grass. What is going on?

I take deep heaving breathes as I jerkily look around, twitching at any slight sound.

What happened? My clones are still here and they look just as confused.

I then jump a few feet behind me as I hear a clap resound through the clearing.

"O-OI! Show yourself! Who are you?!" I yell out. My clones form a defensive perimeter around me.

A figure makes her way through the clearing, accompanied by…Asuma-sensei?

The woman is slightly shorter than Asuma-sensei, but she looks just as good. Her curly long black hair go down her shoulders, contrasting with the whiteness of her…dress? What is that? Bandages? Is she injured or something?

Her steps barely make any dent in the grass as the pair continue to walk. She feels just as deadly as Asuma or Kakashi-sensei. Is this person also a jounin?

"Looks like you were having a bit of trouble there eh, Naruto?" Asuma-sensei joked as they arrived within speaking range.

"Wait, that was you?!" I pointed accusingly at him, "Why would you trick me like that? That's mean-dattebayo!"

"Ah, that was to show you a glimpse at the possibilities that genjutsu offers you. I've been told by Kakashi that he showed you guys the paths of development of the basic Hōnoō jutsu, so I thought I should have someone show you the some of the later stages of genjutsu."

Asuma-sensei waved a hand at the woman's direction, "This lovely lady is the premier genjutsu mistress of Konoha- Yuhi, Kurenai."

Blushing slightly, Kurenai-sensei introduced herself, "Hello, Naruto-san. I am Yuhi, Kurenai, and am the jounin-sensei of Team 8. Your classmates Hinata-chan, Kiba-kun, and Shino-kun are on that team."

Seeing me nod at her words, she continued, "I specialize in genjutsu and was curious to hear that someone of your…nature wanted to learn such a subtle art."

…nature? Is she referring to the Kyuubi? Does everyone here know?!

"Calm yourself, Naruto-san. I, like Asuma-sensei, don't hate you; though I can't say the same for the beast inside…" trailed of Kurenai-sensei before continuing, "rather, your type typically focuses on massively destructive techniques that have a high chakra requirement over jutsu that require a high level of control."

Seeing that they now had my calmer attention, Asuma-sensei continued off, "I wanted her to show you some of the jutsu that you could take your starting genjutsu. I figured that you learn best by example, so it would be easier to teach by showing you what the genjutsu are supposed to cause, rather than explain them each step by step."

Ah. Well that makes sense, I guess? Still, can't have them thinking they pulled one over me.

"Hmph, you could have warned me a bit at least," I folded my arms with a pout, "But you could make up for that by telling me what kind of jutsu you used, Kurenai-sensei." I grin cheekily at her.

Amused, she drawls, "Very well. It's only fair after all. Let's sit down first before going over explanations."

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We sit down at the same log that Asuma-sensei and I sat at, only that I am in the middle while they each take a side of me. It's a bit cramped, but not too bad. Just can't fully fold my legs on the bench.

"Well, Asuma-sensei already got you started on the Shikaku Gotta (Vision Scrambler), so you realize there are many things you can do to manipulate your use of the jutsu right?" Receiving a nod, Kurenai-sensei continues, "Well, that's just a jutsu that affects one of your senses. When combined with multiple senses, the illusion becomes much harder to throw off. Some, like you previously, do not even realize they are in an illusion until they die, and that's because it becomes moot to keep them in an illusion."

"Oh! So you use chakra to change the signals in more than one area of the brain to affect different senses?"

Taken aback, sensei commented, "Why yes. That's very smart of you, Naruto-kun."

I could feel myself preening under her praise. Praise me more sensei!

"Yes, you can work with different parts of the brain to carry out whatever illusion you wish. An example is the front part of the brain that governs socialization. You can make a person think talking about their secrets is as normal as discussing the weather. Pretty handy when interrogating someone."

My eyes bug out at this, "Wha-you can do that?"

Smiling mischievously at herself, Kurenai-sensei murmurs, "Oh yes. The world of genjutsu is as open and restrictive as your mind. Don't believe your imagination has limits and your illusions never will either."

"Now, I'm sure you're curious about what I worked with to fool you into my illusion?"

Nodding eagerly, I start rambling, "Yeah sensei! How did you put me into an illusion? I just felt myself waking up without any changes that I would expect in a genjutsu."

"Well…I usually want my gennin to explain it themselves first, but I did work with some uses that you've probably never heard of, so I'll give you a freebie this time. Learn well, because I will not be so generous in the future."

'In the future?' Does this mean I have another kick-ass sensei? Kick ass! I'll be Hokage in no time, dattebayo!

"Okay sensei! I'm all ears!"

"Okay, first thing I did was knock you out. I hit you with the blunt end of my kunai to set you up to wake up as if from a nap. I then sank a bit of my chakra near your brain so that I could manipulate you from afar. It's always easier to cast a genjutsu the closer you are to the person, especially if you touch them, but a bit of your own chakra on the person can help assist that connection. After that, I covered my presence from you with an all-around scent/sight/hearing nullification jutsu that makes you focus on the other scents, sights, and sounds of the environment so you do not sense me."

I groan at the pun, to both sensei's chuckles.

At least she doesn't read porn.

"The illusion jutsu I used targeted your occipital lobe to hide myself from your sight; your temporal lobe to hide myself from your ear; and your olfactory bulb in your limbic system for smell. The more detailed you make your illusion, the less likely the person will sense something is wrong. I made you see, hear, and smell what you would expect to sense in this training field. The drawback is that you need to have some preparation beforehand to know what the person would expect to sense, like the smell of leaves or the sound of leaves moving around this area."

There's still a lot for me to learn huh? I barely got all of that. All I'm getting is 'I played with parts of your brain.' I've read a bit on the brain, but I can't recall what all those areas are responsible for.

"Then, I had you wake up and worked with your cerebellum, that's the back of your brain near your neck, to make you feel disoriented, but you would probably pass that off as drowsiness, as a person would assume from a nap- remember that you can work people's assumptions against themselves in a genjutsu."

"With that, I worked with your temporal lobe to induce a temporary memory loss so that you would not remember what led you to take a nap. Specifically, I targeted the hippocampus that helps you form memories. Your mind would automatically try to fill in the blanks and I helped guide it by making your occipital lobe believe it was seeing late into the night."

"As you walked around the clearing, I couldn't have you walking out of my range, so I used your frontal lobe to feel like walking around the clearing was a good idea."

Okay. So far, so good. I didn't think the lobes could be used like this all at the same time.

"For the kunai attack, I added to my illusion that was currently affecting your occipital lobe to see kunai coming at you and similarly to your temporal lobe to hear the whistling of kunai. However, I did not bother to affect your sense of smell too. Very few people will notice the scent of metal in the air unless it is very close to them, but most would be preoccupied with the incoming kunai to notice unless they're similar to an Inuzuka. Still, something to notice when believing you are in an illusion and when casting an illusion."

"I had trouble once you started making clones. Each clone had to be put under either the same illusion that you had or incapacitated. If they popped, you would receive their memories and realize you were in an illusion- you can use that in the future, but try not to rely on that for genjutsu detection since people can still use area-based illusions or have very fast casting."

"You may have also noticed that my hold on your illusion was starting to waver once you created a lot of clones. Unfortunately, my original illusion was person-specific as that's easier on my chakra reserves and layering a contrasting illusion such as an area-based sleeping genjutsu would conflict with the illusion I had over you, so I had to cast an illusion on each clone. That took a lot more out of me, so my control over the first illusion on you started shaking."

"Oh yeah! My vision started blurring and everything seemed hazy."

Nodding, Kurenai-sensei said, "Yup, fluctuations like that should tip you off that the genjutsu user is weakening. Aside from clones, you can also send out jutsu or weapons around you to see if it can hit the person, though beware of hitting friendly or civilian persons."

"In the end, you still fell for my katon illusion and I stopped it there," finished Kurenai-sensei.

"Ah, well it all seemed so real. My first response was to protect myself. I guess I froze or something like that," I softly mumbled towards the ground. How embarrassing.

"Well, was there anything else that was odd that you noticed during the illusion?"

Something odd? Oh! The moon!

"What about the moon? I thought that was kinda weird since I first saw stars on a moonless sky then suddenly saw a moon, but I didn't have much time to think on that."

I hope that's the answer she's looking for.

A nod rewards my response.

"Indeed. I'm glad you at least noticed that, though you still need to react on drastic contrasting information like that. Same thing for anything else that you suddenly encounter."

Kurenai-sensei then clapped her hands and look across me at Asuma-sensei, "Well, Asuma-sempai, it looks like you've got quite the student on your hands. He may not be very good at sensing, but that's not what you brought me here for huh?"

"Indeed," grumbled Asuma-sensei from my right, "How do you feel Naruto? You think you're up to learning how to make genjutsu at that level?"

Hell yeah-tebayo! She may have gotten one over me, but Uzumaki Naruto never gives up!

"Yeah sensei! I just need to learn them and I bet I can cast them!"

"Hoh? You think you have what it takes? Then I'll come back in a month. If you can hide yourself from me by then, then I'll teach you one of my genjutsu," said Kurenai-sensei with a voice deep with mirth.

"A month? Give me a week!" I demanded. My pride will not be satisfied otherwise!

The dark-haired woman finally laughs, "Hah, very well then. A week it is. Just make sure to hold up to your promise, hm?"

With that, she stands up and waves back to Asuma-sensei as she leaves. I feel an arm hug across my shoulders.

"Oi, oi, you think you can really pull one over _the_ Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha like that, Naruto-kun?" Asuma-sensei good-naturally murmurs near my ear. Ah, it would be harder tricking someone in the same field huh? A mistress at that? What is a mistress anyways?

"Oi sensei, what's so special about her?" I question him.

"Ah, well, she earned her title when she was able to continuously cast different and separate illusions on her opponents during her jounin exam and throughout her missions. It's a name that gradually develops as your execution methods become more widely known by our corps." To my irritation, he starts ruffling my hair.

"Who knows, you might just get one too. I have faith you'll be one of our best," sensei continues.

"Asuma-sensei…" I mutely whisper before I toughen up my face.

"Like hell will I lose to her!"

* * *

A/N: Bit explanation heavy, but this is to sort of dunk Naruto into the deep end of the pool and seeing if he can learn fast enough. I feel that's the best environment anyone can give him. Dunk him into the more difficult training and he'll succeed through pure determination and creativity. In this case, an elite is showing him the potentials of genjutsu and he'll naturally develop ways to replicate the same illusions and discover more along the way.

I hope you guys appreciated the explanations. Some of the genjutsu lessons will be like this so Naruto can learn how to better cast genjutsu. I'm taking this at a slow pace, but I hope to speed things up later. I like putting a lot of details into scenes though.

Please tell me what you think.


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